ChamberLink Newsletter

Tom Ray (l) was presented the award for Ambassador of the Year by Ron Poteat (r), the Chamber’s vice chair of investor relations at a ceremony recognizing the achievements of the outstanding volunteers for 2009.

Shannon Drake was honored as the 2009 Emissary of the Year for her commitment to working with her 24 “adopted” Chamber members.

With more than 2,300 members and only 29 staff, reaching and communicating to members of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County can be a challenging task. For this reason, the Chamber developed a win-win solution in the form of the ambassador and emissary councils which were introduced in 2002 with a goal of developing another tool to get our members the knowledge they need to be able to understand and use the resources the Chamber has available. The elite ambassador and emissary councils are comprised of a group of specially selected and trained individuals from our Chamber member businesses. Their mission is to act as a liaison for the Chamber, while exposing their businesses to a larger audience by creating a relationship with other Chamber businesses, Chamber staff, dignitaries and board members

Each year, outstanding volunteers within these councils are selected for special recognition and this year is no exception. At a luncheon held recently, Tom Ray was named the 2009 Ambassador of the Year and Shannon Drake was named 2009 Emissary of the Year. Ambassador Team of the Year honors went to the “Beach Bums” also led by Ray and unlike their name implied they were actively involved in welcoming many new companies to Huntsville, Madison and Madison County.

Ray is employed by Look Outdoor Advertising and has been an ambassador for more than a year. He is very active in welcoming new companies to the region by attending ribbon cuttings and ground breakings for these businesses. He also participated in the 2009 Total Resource Campaign and as a first year volunteer was one of the top performers.

“Tom was truly a leader to our other Ambassadors this year and went above and beyond in his volunteer duties,” said Nansi Clark, 2008 Ambassador of the Year and 2008 Ambassador Council chair.

Drake, vice president and business operations manager for Drako Communications - A Division of Drako Engineering, brings boundless energy to everything she does. She was awarded the 2009 Emissary of the Year because of her ability to provide outstanding customer service to the companies she represents as an emissary. Drake has volunteered for more than two years with the Chamber.

“Shannon works hard at everything she does and it shows with her enthusiasm and attention to detail,” said Loren Traylor, vice president of Investor Relations.

“Chamber volunteers are the best of the best and certainly those that were recognized at this annual event are very special,” said Chamber President/CEO Brian Hilson.

For more information on how to get involved in either of the programs, contact Mitzi Floyd at mfloyd@hsvchamber.org.