Congratulations
Mary Leigh McDaniel
2008-07-24 10:52:45
I would like to congratulate Karen Henderson, CEO and President of the Chamber of Commerce, for being awarded the commonwealth's Executive of the Year by the VA Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (VACCE) on July 10th. There are over 130 Chmambers in Virginia, and this award normally goes to executives with 20 to 30 years experience who represent large urban chambers. Therefore, for Ms Henderson, who has served for seven years as CEO for the Fauquier Chamber, to receive this award is an honor indeed.The award recognizes Karen's work on behalf of the local business community, such as spearheading state legislation for farm wineries, increasing Chamber networking opportunities and event attendance and helping restore county funding to the Lord Fairfax SBDC. Membership has increased over 100%, and the Chamber has become financially sound under her leadership. She has also coordinated the move of Chamber offices to a high visibility location three times the size of the previous; a move required due to the growth in the membership. Karen has also worked with her board of directors to build strong working relationships with the public sector to give the business community a political voice in the county.
It has been an honor to serve with Karon on the board, and to know that Fauquier County is receiving state recognition through her efforts.