RICHMOND – The Virginia Chamber of Commerce elected Dennis Treacy, president of the Smithfield Foundation, to serve as chairman of the board of directors at the Chamber’s annual meeting January 25 in Richmond. Treacy served as first vice chair of the board in 2016. He succeeds 2016 Chairman Tom Palmer, senior vice president and regional vice president for the Central Virginia regional commercial banking office of Wells Fargo.

Dennis Treacy serves as president of the Smithfield Foundation and has served in leadership roles with Smithfield Foods since 2002. He also serves on the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors as vice-rector and serves as the Chair of VIRGINIAforever. Prior to joining Smithfield Foods, Treacy was director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Treacy also served as assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the Virginia Attorney General’s office. He has previously served as vice chair – economic development with the Virginia Chamber.

“We have two top goals for the Virginia Chamber in 2017,” said Chairman Dennis Treacy. “We will assemble a bold plan for long-term economic growth with Blueprint Virginia 2025. And we will implement those recommendations, strengthening Virginia’s reputation as a top state for business. The Virginia Chamber will continue to be a thought leader in proposing solutions to our economic challenges, as well as a vehicle through which those ideas come to fruition.”

“Dennis Treacy has a well-deserved reputation for getting results by finding areas of common ground among many stakeholders,” said Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber. “We are grateful to have his leadership this year as we produce an update to Blueprint Virginia and work with policymakers to overhaul Virginia’s economic development strategy and modernize our tax structure.”

The board of directors elected 19 new members at the annual meeting, including electing Suzy Kelly as first vice chair. Kelly is CEO of Jo-Kell Inc., headquartered in Chesapeake. She was re-elected to the Chesapeake City Council in 2014, and has served on many board and commissions, including Governor McDonnell’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructure.

Other new board members include:

James J. Anderson, III, Partner, McGuireWoods LLP

John C. Asbury, President & CEO, Union Bankshares/Union Bank & Trust

Timothy Bentley, Resident Vice President, Norfolk Southern Corporation

Gilbert T. Bland, CEO, The GilJoy Group

Tad Deriso, President & CEO, Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation

Bill Downey, President & CEO, Riverside Health System

Calvin W. Fowler, Jr., President & CEO, Williams Mullen

Herbert D. Frerichs, Jr., General Counsel & Government Relations, Perdue Farms, Inc.

Adam Fried, CEO, Atlantic Builders, Ltd.

Paul Henderson, Managing Director, S&P Global Inc.

Jim Kibler, President, Virginia Natural Gas

Michael W. Matthews, PE, Past Chair, Virginia Council of CEOs

John G. Milliken, Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Virginia Port Authority

Dan Pleasant, COO, Dewberry

James Reinhart, Chief Operating Officer, Quality Technology Services

Randall Smith, Executive Vice President & COO, Liberty University

Frank M. Tamberrino, President & CEO, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce

William Tavenner, Vice President, Sales, Ferguson Enterprises

Nicole Palya Wood, Senior Director, PhRMA

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 the leading non-partisan business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory, civic and judicial arenas at the state and federal level to be a force for long-term economic growth in the Commonwealth. Learn more at www.vachamber.com