RICHMOND – The Virginia Chamber of Commerce elected Tom Palmer of Wells Fargo & Company to serve as chairman of the board of directors at the Chamber’s annual meeting January 27 in Richmond. Palmer served as first vice chair of the board in 2015. He succeeds 2015 Chairman Stacy Mendler, COO of Alion Science and Technology.

Tom Palmer is a senior vice president and regional vice president for the Central Virginia regional commercial banking office of Wells Fargo, based in Richmond.  He also oversees the Eastern Virginia commercial banking office. Commercial Banking provides lending, capital markets, treasury management and deposit products for middle market businesses with annual sales between $20 million and $1 billion.

“The Virginia Chamber represents companies of all sizes, in diverse industries from across the Commonwealth,” said Chairman Tom Palmer. “Our chief mission is to provide a long-term vision for economic growth for Virginia and to implement that vision by educating business leaders, voters and policymakers. I look forward to advancing the Chamber’s agenda for growth, laid out in Blueprint Virginia. We will also work to grow the Chamber’s reach to ensure that every voice in the business community is heard in the process.”

“The Virginia Chamber is fortunate to have Tom Palmer in this new leadership role,” said Barry DuVal, President and CEO of the Virginia Chamber. “Tom has the right vision for the Chamber and for implementing policies that will grow our economy and create jobs.”

The board of directors elected 18 new members at the annual meeting, including electing Dennis Treacy as first vice chair. Treacy serves as president of the Smithfield Foundation and was most recently an executive vice president with Smithfield Foods. He has previously served as vice chair – economic development with the Virginia Chamber.

Other new board members include:

Bill Aden, Founder, Draper Aden Associates, Inc., Blacksburg

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

Paige Clay, Partner, Mercer, Richmond

Alan Witt, CEO, PBMares, LLP, Newport News

Kym Wellons, Associate General Counsel, WestRock Company, Richmond

Teresa Beale, Executive Director, Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce, Franklin

Vince Bush, President & CEO, Eagle Corporation, Charlottesville

Janice Crawford, Supplier Diversity & Commodity Manager, Global Travel, AREVA, Inc., Lynchburg

Chris Kyle, Vice President, Shentel, Edinburg

John Stacey, SVP of Marketing, Tranlin, Inc., Charlottesville

Billy Beale, President & CEO, Union Bank & Trust, Richmond

Valerie Camillo, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer, Washington Nationals Baseball Club, Washington

Karen Campbell, Vice President – State Government Affairs, Verizon, Richmond

Tom Corbitt, Vice President – Human Resources, McGraw Hill Financial, Manakin Sabot

Nick D’Andrea, Director, Public Affairs, UPS, Nashville

Clark Lewis, Partner, Troutman Sanders, Richmond

Dan O’Neill, Jr., President & CEO, SunTrust Bank – Greater Washington & Maryland Division, Washington

Jeff Ricketts, Regional Vice President – Sales, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Richmond

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 23,500 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.