FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2007
Contact Information:
Gene Lee
Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce
770-382-1466
Tim Chason
The Chason Group, Inc.
404-735-0540


Currently Serving as Editor of The Albany Herald
Kay Read Named President of Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber

Kay Read, editor of The Albany Herald in Albany, Georgia, has been named president of the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce. The announcement was made today following a meeting of the board of directors.

“Kay brings a strong background of leadership, vision and business acumen to the chamber,” according to Gene Lee, 2007 chair of the 1,400 member organization. “She has worked with businesses of all sizes that are bottom-line oriented, has been an active player in economic development, and has significant contacts on the state and federal levels that will enhance her ability to lead our chamber. Her experiences will serve the community well.”

Read has served as editor of the south Georgia newspaper for the past 14 years. As a native of San Angelo, Texas, and a Journalism graduate of Baylor University, she worked as a reporter in Texas before joining the Kansas City Star in 1971. In 1985 The Star loaned her to the University of Missouri School of Journalism as a visiting professor where she taught editing and served as a consultant to the university newspaper for a semester.

She was recruited by the New York Post as senior editor for features in 1989. Read left the Post and joined a public relations agency in New York in 1990, where she worked with clients such as IBM, Pennzoil and American Brands prior to moving to Albany.

“I am truly excited about the opportunity to be a part of the team in Cartersville and Bartow County,” Read said. “My background of providing leadership for a team of professional journalists over many years and my involvement as a volunteer for the past 14 years on local and state chamber of commerce boards provide me with a unique perspective of how to move the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber to a new level. There are some excellent programs and services in place that I want to work with the membership to expand over the next several months.

I also have some initiatives I have seen work in other locations that I think will benefit the small-business community here.” “The success of any business in a community is based on a strong education foundation,” says Read. “One of my first contacts will be to meet with the leadership of the two school systems and two colleges to see how the business community can build a stronger partnership between education and the workforce. The one common denominator for any successful business is a qualified workforce.”

Currently, Read is president of the Georgia Associated Press Association Council and a member of the boards of directors of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and Georgia Chamber of Commerce. In Albany, she serves on the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, the Albany Rotary Club Board of Directors, Southwest Georgia Alliance for Progress and Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition executive committee.

The new chamber president was the recipient of the Ed Freeman Outstanding Leadership Award in 2005 and named one of Georgia Trend magazine’s 100 Most Influential Georgians in 2004. She has also been recognized by the statewide business magazine as “Who’s Who in Georgia Media.”
Thirty-nine resumes were received for the position, according to Lee. The candidates resided in 18 different states across the country.

In addition to Lee as chair, members of the search committee included: Paul Battles of Crescent Bank, Commissioner Clarence Brown of Bartow County, Mayor Mike Fields of the City of Cartersville, Parnick Jennings of Parnick Jennings Funeral Home, Chris King of Media Graphics, Tracy Lewis of FasTrak Delivery and Warehousing, Bill McMullen of Georgia Power Company, Greg Patton, and Randy Thompson of Thompson Auto Sales.

Read is expected to begin her position at the chamber on April 9. The new professional will replace Molly Grover who left at the end of December to accept a chamber president’s position in Iowa.

The Chason Group, Inc. of Cartersville assisted the chamber in the search for the president.