Our Team

Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Chair:
Jim Byard, Jr., Byard & Associates, LLC

Immediate Past Chair:
Lisa Miller, Manager of Communications and Economic Development, Alabama Municipal Electric Authority

Chair, Governance Committee:
Nisa Miranda, Director, University of Alabama Center for Economic Development

Chair, Development Committee:
Paul Carruthers, Senior VP & Regional Community Affairs Manager, Regions Bank

Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair:
Paul Kennedy, President, Walker Area Community Foundation

Secretary:
Ernie Cowart, Business Information, Economic Development Partnership of Alabama

MEMBERS

Brandon Bias, AICP, Regional and Community Planner, Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood

Stephanie Bryan, CEO/Chair Poarch Creek 

Clay Carmichael, Cosby-Carmichael, Inc. & City of Selma Councilman Ward 3

Greg Cochran, Executive Director, Alabama League of Municipalities

Ronald W. Davis, Executive Director, Wiregrass Resource Conservation & Development 

Toni Eberhart, Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton 

Alexander D. Flachsbart, Founder, Opportunity Alabama

Charles Goodrich, Director of Timberline Venture Investments

Pammie Jimmar, President, Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce

Tina Naremore Jones, PH.D., Vice President of the Division of Economic & Workforce Development at the University of West Alabama 

Kay Lett, Monroeville Campus Director, Coastal Alabama Community College

Matt McCurry, Manager of Business Development, Alabama Power 

Steve Pelham, Associate VP for Economic Development, Auburn University Research and Innovation Center

Tami Reist, President/CEO, Alabama Mountain Lakes Association

Charles Simpson, Senior Vice President, Graham & Co.

Joshua Vick, Business Development Lead, Spire 

Ex Officio Members

Kenneth Boswell, Director, Alabama Dept. of Economic & Community Affairs (ADECA)

Greg Canfield, Director, Alabama Department of Commerce Represented by Eddie Postell, Director of Small Business Advocacy

Hunter Gentry, Executive Director, Historic Main Street Oxford

Lisa Jones, Executive Director Alabama Historical Commission Represented by Clara Nobles, Legislative Liason

Christian Sanford, State Representative, Office of Senator Richard Shelby

Jo Jo Terry, CTIS, IOM, Digital Marketing Director/Gulf Coast Regional Director, Alabama Tourism Department

Staff

• Mary Helmer Wirth - President/State Coordinator
• Trisha Black - Marketing and Communications Manager
• Tanya Maloney - Field Services Specialist

• Jennifer Schuette - Donor Relations and Administrative Manager 

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