MPACA names new Executive VP

The Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance will have a new leader at the helm beginning in October, as the MPACA alongside the Area Development Commission and the City of Mt. Pleasant have announced the hiring of Kristi Ray as the Executive Vice President of the Chamber Alliance.

?We are thrilled to have Ray join our team,? said Chamber President Chris Van De Berg. ?We had the most highly qualified candidates ever to choose from, which speaks volumes to the community we represent.?

David File, president of the Mt. Pleasant Area Development Commission and search committee co-chair, along with Van De Berg, echoed the sentiment adding, ?Kristi Ray is an experienced professional whom we expect will bring many talents to the Alliance organization.?

Ray has 27 years of experience in the chamber of commerce industry. Most recently Ray served as the Director of Programs and Events at the Greater Burlington Partnership, where she was responsible for government relations, member recruitment, entrepreneurship and downtown events.

Before relocating to Iowa, Ray served as the Executive Vice President of the Columbia Mo. Chamber of Commerce. She has an extensive background in chamber management serving as the Director of Chamber Relations and the Director of Leadership Missouri for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry where she worked diligently to strengthen the relations between the state and local Chambers of Commerce and just last year was awarded the Top Level Lifetime Achievement Award for her efforts to promote the chamber industry, according to her biography on the Greater Burlington Partnership?s website.

This is not the first time Ray has called Iowa home. She was President of the Cedar Falls Chamber of Commerce from 1997-2001.

Ray is a graduate of Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., and has also completed the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She was very active in the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives receiving the Certified Chamber Executive recognition in 2011. She has been an active Rotarian in her former communities and is proud to be a Paul Harris Fellow.

The Chamber Alliance looks forward to working with Kristi Ray as they continue enhancing the lives of residents in Henry County through quality of life and economic growth. Ray will begin employment on Oct. 3, and will be welcomed at the Alive After 5 networking event on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Mt. Pleasant Golf and Country Club.