2009 Executive Board
	Chairman Marie Flickinger South Belt-Ellington Leader Marie Flickinger has been a major force in the development of the South Belt community in southeast Harris County. She is long-time co-owner and publisher of the South Belt-Ellington Leader, as well as South Belt Graphics and Printing. She was one of three organizers and the founding president of the South Belt-Ellington Chamber of Commerce. Flickinger serves as chair to the Board of Trustees of San Jacinto College. Flickinger, the first woman elected to the college board, has been a board member since 1995. Flickinger has served on two Mayoral Transition Committees for the city of Houston and is the Environmental Protection Agency community representative for the Brio Superfund Site, located in the South Belt area. She has served on the numerous superintendent advisory boards and search committees for the Pasadena Independent School District. She is also a recipient of the Rotary "Paul Harris" Award. The Marie Spence Flickinger Fine Arts Building on San Jacinto College South is named in her honor.
	1st Vice President Chris Clark Clear Brook City Mud Chris Clark has been an effective leader of the South Belt area for many years. He has served as the General Manager of the Clear Brook City Mud District for the past eight years. Prior to that he served on the Districts board as a director for 20 years. We have him to thank for many of the beautification and landscape improvements in our area. Clark has served on numerous government committees to help improve and safeguard our area. He recently helped facilitate the new South Belt Fire Station. He has served as the President for the Highland Meadows Homeowners Association, the Optimist Club and was Chairman of the South Belt Civic Coalition
	Secretary Maureen Murphy San Jacinto College South Maureen Murphy was named president of San Jacinto College South following nearly 20 years of community college service in three states. Murphy came to San Jacinto College South in July 2007 from Rappahannock Community College in Virginia, where she was a vice president of instruction and student development. She held a similar position at Wytheville Community College, also in Virginia. Previously, Murphy worked for 14 years at St. Louis Community College - Meramec, serving in both faculty and administrative roles. Murphy received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Louisville, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Missouri - Columbia, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Saint Louis University. A lifelong learner, Murphy enjoys reading, fine and performing arts of all types, and travel.
	Treasurer Rev. Gordon Berg Action Ministries Gordon and his wife, Pat, moved to the South Belt in 1998. They have been married 46 years and have 3 sons, 6 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Gordon and Pat founded Action Ministries Houston, Inc. in 1991. They have now completed 16 years of feeding and serving the less fortunate in the greater Houston area. They are members of Christian Temple Assembly of God Church. Somebody Cares America, Somebody Cares Houston, Jesus Hour Ministries and Missions Network, Inc. Gordon joined the chamber in February, 2000. He has served on the Board of Directors for one year and is chairman of the Ambassadors Committee.
	2nd Vice President Emory Gadd www.sagemontchurch.com Emory Gadd has served on the staff of Sagemont Church for 38 years as Minister to Students and in his current position as Associate Pastor. As a longtime community leader and active volunteer Emory was named the Pasadena Independent School District’s 2005 Distinguished Citizen. As an active volunteer in the Pasadena schools, he lends his effort to campuses in the South Belt community and the entire district through mentoring programs and other activities. He enjoys being the team statistician for the Dobie football coaching staff.
	3rd Vice President Rosanne Kerr www.heb.com Rosanne Kerr has been a familiar face in our neighborhood for quite sometime.  She has been employed by H.E.B. for 22 years.  She was at our Pantry location and is currently working at the Blackhawk location. Rosanne is the neighborhood liaison for H.E.B. serving as the The Diversity Champion.  There are too many projects to name that she has been involved in for the betterment of this community; Memorial Hermann Hospital SE health fair, worked with Moore Elementary on nutritional good health, Helping Heroes just to name a few.

2009 Board of Directors

Dr. Mary Campbell Fox Campbell Family Practice	Peggy Glivens CenterPoint Energy	Terry Felton Almeda Mall	Dr. B.J. Garner Garner & Garner Vision Center
George Gaston Memorial Herman Southeast Hospital	Elaine Munoz J. P. Morgan Chase	Eli Tanksley Clear Brook Realtors	Delia Tarango Washington Mutual
Jackie Wiess	Sandra Yandell www.yandellsold.com

Chamber Staff

Executive Director Sally Mitchell

Membership Information

Your membership in the Chamber does make a difference!

And here’s why-----

Promote Your Business

• Free listing in Annual Chamber Business Directory
  
• Free listing and web link on the chamber’s website
  
• Open House Receptions
  
• Chamber Plaques and Window Stickers
  
• Recognition in the Chamber Newsletter
  
• Marketing materials displayed in chamber office
  
• Publicized Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies
  
• Groundbreaking Ceremonies

Build Your Relationships

• Serve on a Chamber Committee
  
• Chamber Special Events
  
• Casino Night
  
• Evening of Cuisine
  
• Special Event Sponsorships

Have a Voice; be an influence

Become part of the process that will allow you to have an impact and make a difference.
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South Belt-Ellington Chamber History

The South Belt-Ellington Chamber of Commerce officially was kicked off with an October 1984 dinner, but the start of the chamber actually came five years earlier. The first recommendation of a South Belt area chamber of commerce came from then Texas Commerce Bank president, Steve Spencer.

Spencer suggested to Marie Flickinger, publisher of the South Belt-Ellington Leader, that a chamber should be started in the area. Flickinger's response was one that has been repeated many times since then: "What's a chamber going to do for this area?"

Spencer wasn't really certain, but he was confident that the area should have a chamber. The pair decided to start a leadership group, the South Belt Community Association, composed of a handful of community leaders which included Dr. Parker Williams, who was president of San Jacinto Community College, and commercial realtor Rudy Schubert.

The group met regularly and began a tradition, which still exists today, of working closely with elected officials. The small group had no bylaws, membership dues or any sort of structure. As the group became more successful in working with various projects, it became apparent that it was time to move onto the initial recommendation.

By this time, Spencer had moved on to TCB in Tanglewood, and a new banker, Larry Wright, moved into the presidency of the First City Bank at Fuqua and the Gulf Freeway.

Wright suggested that the group should sponsor a get-together of business leaders to see if there was enough support to start a chamber.

This meeting was held in the administration building of San Jacinto College South. The small community group anticipated 20 or 25 people in attendance and were surprised at the more than 60 who showed up and strongly supported the idea of starting the chamber.

The next step was talking to community leaders who would ante up $1,000 each to try and get the new organization up and running. Twenty-two stepped up to the plate. The initial board of directors and their representatives were: Ameriway (now Washington Mutual), Elba Olvera; Control Specialties, Randy Pennington; First City Bank-Almeda Genoa, Larry Wright; InterTec Financial Group, Bill Caraway; Memorial Hospital Southeast (then located on Bellfort), Steve Sanders; Mortgage & Trust, Charles Lusk III; Perry Homes, Jim Mavity; Almeda Mall, James Roberts; Sagemeadow Utility District, Jack Myers; Texas Commerce Bank-South Belt, Mark Ferguson; William L.H. Morgan, Jr; Ayrshire Corp, Ken Coquyt; Dan Boone Chevrolet, Dan Boone; Houston Lighting & Power (CenterPoint), A.C. Czigan; Kaparo Development, Karen Ross; National Directory Service, Billy Stark; Republic State Bank, Steve Hadlock; Rudy Shubert-Conglomerate (this included Dr. Mike Stokes, Dr. B. J. Garner and Larry Kurtz), Rudy Schubert; South Belt Leader, Marie Flickinger; Textool Co., Louie Wiess (soon replaced by wife Jacquelyn); and Trammel Crow, Lynn Thompson.

The plan was to hire a director and work through September to obtain at least 75 members who paid for membership into the new group. If this was accomplished, the Chamber would be up and running; if not, the remaining $1,000 founding money would be divided among the non-officer members. The interim officers were: Flickinger, president; Wright, vice-president; and Schubert, vice president. If it was successful, the founding members would then pay their first membership dues. The original founding members were promised a permanent seat on the board (as long as they paid their annual membership fees).

Eight of the initial companies are still on the board. Flickinger has the most tenure on the board, and Jacquelyn Weiss is next. She replaced her husband shortly after the chamber was organized.

The first chamber board meeting was held July 10. Les Haulbrook was the first executive hired to direct the chamber.

The first chamber dinner was held Oct. 12. To the board's amazement, the chamber started with 176 members, 101 more than the goal of 75.

The first dinner featured then County Judge Jon Lindsay and flood control director Jim Green. Spencer, who originally suggested starting the chamber was also present as were David Hannah Jr and David Hannah III of Ayrshire Corporation who developed the majority of the residential property in the South Belt area.

A first-prize award was given to Bobby Griffin for having signed up the most members; second place went to Karen Tollet.

The chamber was off and running.

The first ground-breaking event hosted by the chamber was for Memorial Hospital which broke ground in the fall of 1984.

Over the years, the effort of the chamber leadership has always been centered on working with elected officials to improve the quality of the South Belt community.

Running a chamber in an area that does not enjoy the support of a city or high business or industrial area is difficult. But the South Belt chamber has survived against difficult odds due to the strong support of a dedicated core group.

Constructing a stand-alone building for the chamber was quite a challenge, made possible by the efforts of a number of people but especially a handful who more than stepped up to the challenge. This includes Sherry and D.C. Trainer. Sherry, as director, undertook a fund-raiser which required selling 50 tickets for $100 each; D.C. did most of the selling. The Trainers moved on to the Pasadena chamber where Sherry is now the executive director, with D.C. at her side, but Sherry's first job in chambers was with the South Belt chamber.

Also aiding in the materialization of the dream of the chamber having its own building was Billy Burge of Ayrshire, who donated the land, and Jack Niday, who oversaw the construction as general contractor (at no charge) and also aided in various ways when the chamber hit rocky times. The attractiveness of the chamber building can be credited to the efforts of Chris Clark, who was responsible for the beautiful design of the building.

There are dozens of people who have helped and deserve credit for the chamber being a vital part of the South Belt Community.

There are too many to recognize, but one group must be acknowledged. George Valtasaros and wife Kathy and her daughter Ashley helped keep the chamber together during a rough four-year period. George, owner of The Gardens, gave tirelessly as president for three out of the past four years.

Some of the more successful endeavors of the chamber have been in helping to get major construction projects done in the area. This includes such projects as the Scarsdale-Yost Road connection and multiple-lane bridges over the Gulf Freeway at Fuqua and Scarsdale. It also worked with County Commissioner El Franco Lee on projects such as the community center at El Franco Lee Park and, years ago, the establishment of the county courthouse annex and the Parker Williams Library.

The chamber's governmental affairs committee met with Commissioner Lee when he was first elected and began lobbying for the county complex which is currently located at Scarsdale and Beamer.

One goal, which the chamber has not yet been successful in obtaining, is a local post office. This is still a major goal of the chamber.

Another which is being pursued is the establishment of a TIRZ for the Fuqua and Almeda Mall area to improve the economic development of those areas.

Ongoing community events include a fall Evening of Cuisine and the spring Casino Night.

Both of these projects not only have become great social events for the community, but have become fund-raisers for the chamber. The Evening of Cuisine offers a great opportunity for chamber members to sample the great food of our local restaurants.

The Chamber is celebrating its 25th Anniversary: the best is yet to come

History of Presidents