Professional Staff
The Little Rock Regional Chamber's 15-member management team possesses the second highest percentage of Certified Chamber Executives (CCE) of any Chamber in the nation.
In addition to his service on the United States Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100, Jay Chesshir, CCE (President & CEO) is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Board of Directors.
In its 25th anniversary issue, Arkansas Business named him one of Arkansas's "25 for the Future." For their economic development accomplishments on behalf of the region, Southern Business & Development magazine named Chesshir and Joey Dean (Vice President, Economic Development; Executive Director, Metro Little Rock Alliance) among the "Top Ten People in the South Who Made a Difference."
Judy Knod's (Director, Human Resources) 25 years of service in the profession (all at the Little Rock Regional Chamber) were honored at the 2008 ACCE convention in Pittsburgh.
The Chamber Staff has three graduates of the Institute for Organization Management (IOM) - Jay Chesshir, Judy Knod and Gary Newton - and four graduates of the University of Oklahoma /Economic Development Institute (OU/EDI) - Jay Chesshir, Joey Dean, Kristi Barr (Director, Business Retention & Expansion), and Gary Newton - giving it one of the highest percentages of Economic Development Institute graduates of any Chamber in the nation.
For more information, Jay Chesshir, CCE (President & CEO), 501.377.6002.
Administration
Jay Chesshir, CCE* **
President & CEO
501.377.6002
Judy Knod*
Director, Human Resources
501.377.6004
Janie Wayne
Manager, Finance
501.377.6009
Kim Shumpert
Executive Assistant; Manager, Facilities & Events
501.377.6010
Amy Longo
Receptionist (1st Floor)
501.377.6028
Susan Miller
Receptionist (2nd Floor)
501.374.2001
Economic Development Team
Joey Dean**
Vice President, Economic Development;
Executive Director, Metro Little Rock Alliance
501.377.6006
Kristi Barr**
Director, Business Retention & Expansion
501.377.6017
Membership Team
Gary Newton, CCE* **
Executive Vice President
501.377.6007
Todd Mills
Director, Communications
501.377.6003
Kathy Perez
Manager, Member Development
501.377.6014
Carmen Parks
Manager, Small Business
501.377.6013
Barri Bridges
Manager, Member Services
501.377.6014
Catherine Smith
Membership Account Executive
501.377.6018
Heather Priddy
Membership Account Executive
501.377.6015
CCE, Certified Chamber Executive
*Graduate, Instutute for Organization Management
**Graduate, University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute