RICHMOND – The Virginia Chamber of Commerce elected Suzy Kelly, CEO of Jo-Kell Inc., to serve as chair of the board of directors at the Chamber’s annual meeting January 24 in Richmond. Kelly has been a member of the Chamber Board since 2009 and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board since 2010. She served as first vice chair of the board in 2017. Kelly succeeds 2017 Chairman Dennis Treacy, president of the Smithfield Foundation.

Suzy Kelly is the CEO of Jo-Kell Inc., a woman-owned small business specializing in Navy shipboard and high-tech industrial automation products, systems and services. Jo-Kell has been in business since 1977 and currently has over 60 employees with offices in Chesapeake, VA; Jacksonville, FL; San Diego, CA; Atlanta, GA; and Charleston, SC. Under Kelly’s leadership, Jo-Kell has become a world-class electrical distribution firm and has been recognized by Northrop Grumman as Supplier of the Year. She has also served as a member of the Chesapeake City Council since 2010.

“I am looking forward to serving as Chair this year and working with the Board and Executive Committee to continue the progress we have made and strengthen the Chamber’s role as the most influential business advocacy association in the Commonwealth,” said Chair Suzy Kelly. “We will continue our work to strengthen Virginia’s reputation as the best state to do business by implementing the public policy goals outlined in Blueprint Virginia 2025.”

“Suzy Kelly is a recognized leader in the business community as well as in her local community,” said Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber. “We are grateful to have her leadership this year as we continue to implement our strategic plan and work with policymakers to make Virginia the best state in which to do business.”

The board of directors elected 17 new members at the annual meeting, and elected Charlie Meyer as first vice chair. Meyer is a partner with O’Hagan Meyer, where his practice focuses on employment litigation and counseling. Prior to joining O’Hagan Meyer, Mr. Meyer was a Vice President and shareholder of LeClairRyan where he chaired the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Team.

In addition to Meyer, 4 new members were elected to the Executive Committee:

John Dooley, CEO & Secretary-Treasurer, Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.

Chris Kyle, Vice President, Shentel

Jim Reinhart, Chief Operating Officer, QTS

Fred Thompson, Chief Administrative Officer, Thompson Hospitality

Other new board members include:

Katharine Bond, Senior Director, Public Policy & Strategy, Dominion Energy

Montgomery Deihl, VP Operations, Omega Protein, Inc.

Gregory W. Gartland, Managing Director, S&P Global

Christine Kennedy, IOM, COO & Executive Vice President, Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance

Nicholas C. Klym, Executive Director, Virginia Market Executive, JPMorgan Chase

Neal Lappe, CEO, WebStrategies Inc.

John B. Lewis, Senior Managing Director, Financial Advisor, BB&T Scott & Stringfellow

Dennis Matheis, President, Optima Health/Sentara Healthcare

Aaron Mathes, Vice President, Consulting Services, CGI

Brandon Mencini, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Development, HCA Capital Division

Edward A. Mullen, Partner, ReedSmith LLP

Maurice Royster, Manager, Government Affairs, EQT Corporation

Karen S. Simonton, CPA, Chief Administrative Officer – West, OrthoVirginia

Thomas Watkins, Vice President-Cox Business Virginia, Cox Communications

Lakshmi Williams, General Counsel, North America, Transurban

Spencer Williamson, President & CEO, kaléo

Raymond G. Wittersheim, President & CEO, Técnico Corporation

A full board listing, including those continuing their terms, can be found at www.vachamber.com.

About the Virginia Chamber of Commerce

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce is the largest business advocacy organization in the Commonwealth, with more than 26,000 members. The Chamber is a non-partisan, business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory and political arenas to act as the catalyst for positive change in all areas of economic development and competitiveness for Virginia. In December 2017, the Chamber released an update to its long-term strategic economic development plan, Blueprint Virginia 2025, which engaged over 6,000 business and community leaders to lay out a plan to getting Virginia back to the top of national business climate rankings. Learn more at www.vachamber.com