President Obama unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2014 budget today, and while it is sure to face significant alteration by Congress (assuming Congress is able to make progress in adopting a budget), there are some noteworthy ideas in the area of education. Backing up the president’s focus on pre-K education in his State of the Union speech, his proposed budget funds a state-federal partnership to provide high-quality early education to all 4-year-olds in low- and moderate-income families, with additional grant funds to entice states to expand pre-K to middle-class families. Tennessee’s pre-K program for low-income families began in 1996 as a pilot serving 600 children under Gov. Don Sundquist. The program continued to grow every few years, but has not been expanded since Gov. Phil Bredesen broadened the program in 2005 to its current level serving 18,600 children.

The proposed budget also contains a $1 billion Race To The Top grant competition for higher education, in which states would develop comprehensive plans to make postsecondary education more affordable, efficient and effective. Tennessee made considerable progress with the Complete College Act in 2010, which eliminated many redundant offerings and altered the higher education funding formula to reward degree completion. In his speech to Chamber members on April 2, Gov. Bill Haslam promised initiatives next year designed to address the rising cost of college tuition, as well as strategies to help Tennessee move from 32 percent of adults with postsecondary degrees to 55 percent by the year 2025.

Of particular interest to Nashvillians engaged in improving K-12 education in our city is the following item on page 82 of the budget summary document:

The budget provides $300 million for a new program to strengthen college- and career-readiness by redesigning high school to focus on providing students with challenging, relevant learning experiences, and rewarding schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers to support instruction and to help develop the skills students need to be prepared for jobs now and in the future. In addition, the budget proposes to strengthen and reform career and technical education to better align programs with the needs of employers and higher education.

Sounds exactly like the Academies of Nashville, the transformation of Metro’s 12 zoned high schools that deserves much of the credit for increased graduation rates, attendance, improved discipline and rising math proficiency over the past three years. Perhaps the similarity is not entirely coincidental, since high-level staff from the U.S. Department of Education have made visits to our high schools on several occasions during the past year. Most high schools around the country have looked and operated pretty much the same for the past four decades, if not longer. Nashville has been aggressive about completely shaking up the outdated model of secondary education, changing the way teachers teach and interact with each other and bringing relevance to the common core curriculum through meaningful engagement with our business community. It’s nice to get this virtual “shout-out” from the president and his reform-minded Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

Educators and policymakers from across the country are visiting Nashville to see how we are transforming the traditional high school experience. They are drawn by the extensive involvement of the business community in supporting the Academies of Nashville, with more than 170 academy partnerships across the district. They are also drawn by the results to date—the number of students proficient in high school math has increased dramatically, and the dropout rate has been cut in half, to only 2.3 percent.

The district rolls out the red carpet for our visitors so they can see the Academies of Nashville model firsthand, and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce decided to do the same for community leaders in our own city. Last year, more than 250 Nashville elected officials, faith community leaders, business executives and PTO presidents attended one of six Academy VIP Tours at McGavock, Antioch, Stratford, Whites Creek, Hillsboro and Glencliff. Since there are 12 zoned high schools implementing academies in Metro Schools, this year’s tours will feature Hillwood (September), Cane Ridge and Pearl-Cohn (November), Maplewood (December), Overton (March), and Hunters Lane (April).

To view a brief video highlighting last year’s VIP tours, see below. To attend one of this year’s Academy VIP Tours, contact Rita McDonald at 743-3152 or rmcdonald@nashvillechamber.com.

The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 brought a focus on data, accountability and success for all students. Still, most education observers believed the goals and deadlines were unrealistic. Tennessee now has a waiver releasing schools and districts from the NCLB accountability requirements and replacing them with new accountability measures. So what does that mean for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS)?

At the April 24 school board work session, Dr. Paul Changas and Dr. Tina Stenson of MNPS provided an overview of the new statewide school accountability system.

The new “absolute accountability” system sets new goals for the district and the schools to increase student achievement in third grade math and reading, seventh grade math and reading, 3-8 grade math and reading, high school Algebra I, high school English II and the high school graduation rate. Algebra II and English III will be added in future years. There are two overriding goals under this new system: growth for all students every year, and closing achievement gaps by ensuring faster growth for students who are furthest behind. Value-added scores for all students serve as a safe harbor for the achievement portion of absolute accountability.

“Relative accountability,” measured every one to three years, ranks schools against each other. The top 5 percent of schools showing the highest achievement and the top 5 percent of schools showing the greatest student progress will be recognized and rewarded. Schools' relative success rate will be measured by gains in reading, math and science proficiency levels, as well as high school graduation rates. Every three years, schools with success rates in the bottom 5 percent will be identified as "priority schools" and will be subject to rigorous turnaround strategies.

Finally, 10 percent of Tennessee schools will be identified as “focus schools,” based on the following criteria: high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent; schools with less than 5 percent proficient or advanced for any subgroup; or schools with large achievement gaps. Focus schools must implement research-based strategies that support students and subgroups with the greatest needs. These schools will have an opportunity to compete for $100,000 grants to aid in these efforts.

The Chamber continues to support public education as our No. 1 priority because of the important role public schools play in the future of our community. We are optimistic that, under the new state accountability standards, the goals and targets will remain aggressive but be more feasibly met, while the incentive for real improvements in student achievement will dramatically increase.

More than 50 community leaders participated in the final Academy VIP Tour of the school year at Glencliff High School on March 14. Increasingly, Metro’s academies are garnering national—and international—recognition. Earlier this month, 60 school district leaders from around the country spent two days in our city learning about Nashville’s academy model, and a team from Nashville has been asked to make a presentation at an international conference in the UK this June. The purpose of the Academy VIP Tours is to make sure our own community leaders in Nashville are familiar with what the Academies of Nashville are, how they work, and the results to date.

The touring group visited Glencliff’s four academies: the Ford Academy of Business, the Academy of Environmental & Urban Planning, the Academy of Medical Science & Research, and the Academy of Hospitality & Marketing. Student ambassadors led four different touring groups around the school, explaining the various offerings. In an added twist to this tour, students from Hillwood High School’s Academy of Art, Design & Communication were on hand to videotape the tours, which you can watch below.

We’d like to thank the following elected officials for participating in the Glencliff tour:
Metro Council member Buddy Baker
Metro Council member Chris Harmon
Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry
School Board member Ed Kindall
School Board member Gracie Porter

We were also pleased to be joined by two candidates for the state legislature, Harold Love, Jr., and Jason Powell. Also touring were CEO Champions Peggy Cooning (Trevecca Nazarene University), Bill Lee (Lee Company), and Ron Samuels (Avenue Bank), as well as Chamber board member Kent Adams (Caterpillar Financial Services). Members of the PENCIL Foundation board of directors were in attendance, as was Cheryl Carrier of the Ford Motor Company Fund.

We’d like to thank the 30 members of the Metro Council and the nine members of our state legislative delegation who attended a VIP Tour this school year. In addition, special recognition goes to all nine members of the Metropolitan Board of Education, each of whom attended at least one of the tours at Antioch, Glencliff, Hillsboro, McGavock, Stratford, or Whites Creek. We’re excited about plans for Academy VIP Tours at Cane Ridge, Hillwood, Hunters Lane, Maplewood, Overton and Pearl-Cohn during the 2012-2013 school year. To view photos from the tour, click here.


Teacher Deborah Crosby explains what students are working on in the Ford Academy of Business.

The Charter School Support Network, a Chamber committee composed primarily of business leaders who serve on the boards of one of Nashville’s 11 charter schools, met at Nashville Prep on January 19. Founded by Ravi Gupta as a college-preparatory academy, and still in its first year of operation, the charter school serves fifth-grade students, with plans to add one grade level each year.

Located inside the downtown campus of Tennessee State University, the school offers a longer school day (7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday school every other week, resulting in approximately 15 additional instructional days per academic year. As a component of the extended day, students receive one hour of daily tutoring and participate in one hour of enrichment activities, which include basketball, chess, chorus, dance and drama.

This month, committee members heard an update from Alan Coverstone, executive director of MNPS’ Office of Innovation, regarding the Charter Compact and the Performance Management Replication Closure (PMRC) timeline to establish benchmarks for Nashville charter schools. Nashville’s charter compact outlines the ways in which Metro Schools and the city’s growing charter sector should work in partnership. As part of the compact work, members took part in a preliminary conversation to identify indicators for high-quality schools. Graduation, matriculation, school climate, academic rigor, attendance and parent involvement were some of the defining characteristics committee members believe are important when evaluating school performance. At the next meeting, the committee will further examine the question, “What is a high-performing school?” Committee members are encouraged to invite other members of their respective charter boards to participate in this important conversation.

The committee also received an update regarding the existing charter school landscape in Nashville. Currently, there are 11 charter schools in operation, with an additional three schools approved to open this fall. In addition, a new KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) school is authorized to open in 2013. Applications for new charter schools will be accepted between March 1 and April 1, with a 60-day review period to commence on April 1.

Click here to see more photos from the meeting.

Last week, business, education and community leaders heard from one of the world's best-known academics in the field of education reform and school turnaround at the Education 2020 Speaker Series, presented by the Chamber, Mayor Dean and the Lipscomb University College of Education.

Andy Hargreaves, the Thomas More Brennan Chair in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, provided insights on high-performing school systems using a recent study he authored with Professor Alma Harris. Titled “Performance Beyond Expectations,” the report focuses on high-achieving organizations in three sectors: business, education and sports.

Hargreaves pointed out that nine out of 10 businesses working to turn around in a year or less fail. In researching this topic, the authors were struck not by the differences between organizations that were able to successfully turn around, but the similarities. They found that the criteria for successful turnaround lie in three areas:

1) Perform better than you did;
2) Perform better than your peers; and
3) Perform better than you’d expect.

After examining which characteristics make this kind of performance more likely, the authors came up with 15 common factors that serve as a framework for successful turnaround. Several of these stand out in particular.

First, what Hargreaves referred to as F1: the fantastic dream. The premise is that organizations that perform beyond expectations aspire to an improbable, collectively held dream that is bolder and more challenging than a plan or a vision. In the case of MNPS, that dream is to be the first choice for families in Davidson County. The next factor is F2: the fear. Hargreaves stated that organizations should use fear to energize, not paralyze. The full report can be found at www.andyhargreaves.com.

Hargreaves also emphasized the importance of strong leadership. He said, “It’s easy to lead when you have everything going for you. It’s essential to lead when you don’t.” This statement has strong implications for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, where leadership is a critical factor in successful turnaround. As a strong affirmation to Metro Schools, Hargreaves, who was visiting for a couple of days as a member of Dr. Register’s National Advisory Panel, declared that he believes MNPS will be one of the leading flagships of how to move forward in education reform in the next three years. He added that the country will be looking to us as an example. Clearly, we have a lot to do to reach this point, but, as the Chamber’s Education Report Card Committee pointed out in its 2011 report released earlier this week, it is increasingly evident that we have the leadership in place to attain our “improbable dream.”

To view additional photos from this event, please click here.

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors has adopted a resolution urging the State of Tennessee to continue implementing the new teacher evaluation instrument this school year. Annual teacher evaluations based, in part, on student achievement, were part of the legislation passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in the January 2010 special session that secured a $500 million federal Race to the Top grant. You can read the Chamber’s resolution here. Chairman Bert Mathews also authored an opinion piece on this topic that ran in Monday’s Tennessean.

As difficult as change can be, it’s important that the state get the new evaluation process underway and make adjustments on an as-needed basis. Tennessee Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman has said all along that the Department of Education would consider suggestions for improving the process, and proof of his commitment came this week, when he announced the department would seek a rule change with the state board of education this Friday to allow principals to combine the number of teacher observations, reducing the amount of time commitment from administrators and teachers.

The move to a new teacher evaluation system had broad, bipartisan support from legislators, teacher unions, the business community, and advocacy groups when it passed in 2010. Now that the difficult work of implementation is underway, there appears to be an effort to turn back the clock. We can’t afford to keep doing things the same way and ignore our poor results. Our state got another wake-up call today when the National Assessment of Educational Progress results were released. Although there was no statistical change in Tennessee’s scores in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math - the four subjects tested this year - a greater number of states have made improvements, pushing Tennessee farther down in national rankings. The state dropped from 45th to 46th in the nation in fourth-grade math; 39th to 41st in fourth-grade reading; 43rd to 45th in eighth-grade math; and 34th to 41st in eighth-grade reading. Twenty-six percent of fourth-grade students are proficient in reading, and 30 percent are proficient in math. Twenty-seven percent of eighth-grade students are proficient in reading, and 24 percent are proficient in math. We need to stay the course in reforming our education system.

Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and current thought leader on education policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told a Nashville audience of more than 200 last week that it will be up to local communities and states to stay the course on rigorous academic standards and accountability. As Congress gets ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- or No Child Left Behind (NCLB), as it was known during the last reauthorization -- Spellings said the law should be “clear, transparent and speak to every school and every student.” She said NCLB should be “preserved, strengthened and improved,” but she worried that Washington was headed toward a “new normal” that would excuse continued low performance for groups of students. She praised Tennessee’s reform efforts and encouraged the use of student growth data as an accountability measure in any new federal legislation.

Why should the business community get involved in education? Spellings painted a stark picture:

• Half of U.S. Chamber members reported having trouble finding skilled/knowledgeable workers.
• In 2010, the private sector was forced to spend $50 billion on job training.
• By 2020, there are projected to be 123 million high-skill/high-wage jobs, but only 50 million workers qualified to fill them.

Spellings referenced the work that Nashville’s business community is doing, through the Academies of Nashville and other initiatives, as a model for other cities to emulate. This past summer, the U.S. Chamber released a report, Partnership Is a Two-Way Street, which profiled Nashville’s efforts.

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Ralph Schulz then moderated a panel to dive into the details of business engagement in education. Steve Turner, co-chair of the Chamber’s CEO Champions, a group that advocates for the Academies of Nashville, reported that there were now 150 businesses and organizations partnered with Metro’s high school academies, and these partners were doing everything from serving as guest speakers, to providing student internships, to working with teachers on curriculum through “teacher externships.”

Mike Edwards, president & CEO of the Knoxville Chamber, told the crowd that philanthropy is important, but it needs to direct results. He urged business leaders to pay attention to policy debates, because education legislation “can affect our bottom line.” Edwards said school districts could lean on the private sector to improve management skills because businesses are used to managing to an outcome.

Darrell Freeman, chairman of SuccessPAC, a political action committee that endorses candidates in Nashville’s school board elections, reminded the audience that “education is a child’s ticket out of poverty.” Leaving no doubt as to his feelings on the urgency around this work, Freeman encouraged systems to remove “nonperformers” quickly.

Kevin Huffman, Tennessee’s commissioner of education, urged businesses to “keep pushing and engage” with school boards and superintendents, always asking “Did it work?” and “How do we know?” Commissioner Huffman said he had heard many excuses for delaying or watering down Tennessee’s ambitious education reforms, but no one had offered insight as to why Kentucky’s poor students were a full grade level ahead of Tennessee’s poor students. “The burden of proof is not on the people who want change,” said Huffman. “The burden of proof is on the people who want the system to remain the same.”

The luncheon, part of the Education 2020 Speaker Series presented by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Karl Dean and Lipscomb University, was a collaborative effort with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Look for details soon about the next speaker series event, to be held Wednesday, December 7, at Lipscomb University.



Margaret Spellings, former secretary of education, visited Nashville to discuss business engagement in public education as part of the Education 2020 Speaker Series presented by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Karl Dean and Lipscomb University.


Panelists Mike Edwards, president & CEO of the Knoxville Chamber; Darrell Freeman, chairman of Zycron; Kevin Huffman, commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education; and Steve Turner, co-chair, CEO Champions, delved into the issues surrounding business engagement in public education. To view additional pictures from the event, click here.

Margaret Spellings, former secretary of education and current president of the U.S. Forum for Policy Innovation, will visit Nashville this Wednesday, Oct. 12, to speak at the Education 2020 Speaker Series.

Spellings, a leading national expert on public policy, also serves as a senior advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009. In that role, she oversaw an agency with a nearly $70 billion budget and more than 10,000 employees and contractors. As a cabinet member, she led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, a historic national initiative to provide enhanced accountability for the education of 50 million U.S. public school students.

We sat down with Spellings to ask about what role the business community can play in improving public schools.

Q. Why involve the business community in improving public education?
A. Our education system in America is in need of transformative improvement, and business can play a valuable role in retooling our nation’s school systems. Business can provide the leverage, expertise and leadership that will help educators and public officials make tough decisions and take hard steps they may not take on their own.

Q. What can the business community do to improve schools that other organizations and institutions can't?
A. They can do two things: leverage their financial resources and use their expertise. In an effort to be good corporate citizens, business leaders often involve their companies in local schools by partnering with education officials, backing bond issues, arranging for employees to work as mentors, providing money for scholarships, and supplying goods and services to schools. While all of these efforts are admirable and can benefit many students, they don’t create the transformative change required to significantly raise student achievement. Because the business community is a sought after partner by the education community, often because they can bring financial resources to the table, they are in a position to leverage their support for real reform and help school officials tackle tough issues. This is what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks to provide - guidance to business leaders on just how to engage in a substantive way that supports reform focused on student achievement and closing the gaps. In addition, business leaders possess unique skills and resources that can be brought to the table to help solve real problems faced by educators – human resource issues, budgeting, data, management, etc. These are all areas where business has expertise to contribute.

Q: What's the incentive for the business community to get involved?
A: Aside from being leaders in the community as well as parents and grandparents, business leaders are trying to be successful in their fields and to remain competitive in a global economy. In many cases, they are struggling to find the skilled workforce they need. Fifty-three percent of business leaders say they have difficulty hiring non-managerial employees with the right skills, training and education. Even though our national unemployment is more than 9 percent, there are more than 3 million jobs going unfilled in this country today. I attribute that to an education system that is failing on many levels.

Q: Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce working to improve public education?
A: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation, representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions. Education is more often than not a priority issue for our state and local chambers across the country. A strong public education system means a steady stream of skilled workers for the companies in the area; it helps attract business to the area, and it’s the foundation for a strong community. As a result, the U.S. Chamber has been involved in education reform efforts for many years.

Q: What, specifically, is the U.S. Chamber doing to help?
A: The U.S. Chamber engages in a variety of ways. As a well-respected trade association in Washington, we can bring our considerable resources to bear on issues of concern for the organization. We advocate for reform at the federal level – reform focused on accountability for results, given the billions of taxpayer dollars for education that the federal government provides. We also seek to engage the business community in education reform efforts in their communities and assist those who are already engaged. Through scholarly research, resources, convenings, publications and communications efforts, we seek to ensure an educated and skilled workforce for our members so that they and our nation remain competitive in this global economy.

Q: What are other cities doing to improve public education? How does Nashville’s business community compare with peers around the country in terms of involvement?
A: While businesspeople in other communities have achieved varying levels of engagement and success in the arena of education reform, there are models for success. Just this past spring, the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce released a report titled Partnership is a Two-Way Street: What it Takes for Business to Help Drive School Reform. The report profiles three locations where the business community has successfully engaged in school reform in their community. Along with Austin, Texas, and the state of Massachusetts, Nashville was held up as an example. Nashville’s approach to high school reform was shown to have produced results, particularly because the business community is a committed partner. The report highlighted Nashville’s 117 business-academy partnerships, as well as six industry-based partnership councils composed of 22 to 25 high-level business leaders. The result: the city’s graduation rate rose from 69 percent in 2006 to 83 percent in 2010, while the suspension rate declined more than 25 percent. The percentage of high schools in “good standing” under No Child Left Behind rose from 41 percent in the 2007–2008 school year to 53 percent in 2009–2010.

Last week, 300 educators and business volunteers gathered on the 21st floor of the Pinnacle at Symphony Place in downtown Nashville to recognize excellence within the Academies of Nashville. The Academies are Metro Schools’ effort to prepare every Nashville student for college and career in the district’s 12 zoned high schools. My job for the evening was manning the turntables, setting a party mood and keeping the music fresh between presenters. After mingling over hors d'oeuvres and refreshments, we learned about the inspiring work of all of the nominees and watched winners in 19 different award categories accept their “Jesse” trophy. A special shout-out to Altria and Deloitte, the presenting sponsors who made the evening possible - let the competition begin for the 2012 awards!

2011 Academies of Nashville Award Winners:
Teacher of the Year (CTE/Thematic Pathway)
John Marshall, Engineering, Overton’s Academy of Engineering

Teacher of the Year (General Education)
Naomi Williams, Math, Antioch’s Freshman Academy

Team Leader of the Year
Tara Baker, English, Glencliff’s Freshman Academy

Academy Partnership of the Year: Arts, Media, and Communications Partnership Council
CMT and McGavock’s Academy of Digital Design and Communication

Academy Partnership of the Year: Business, Marketing, and IT Partnership Council
The Tennessee Credit Union and Antioch’s The Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance

Academy Partnership of the Year: Engineering, Manufacturing, and Industrial Technology Partnership Council
LP Corporation and Overton’s Academy of Engineering

Academy Partnership of the Year: Health Partnership Council
HCA and Hillwood’s Academy of Health

Academy Partnership of the Year: Hospitality and Tourism Partnership Council
Gaylord Entertainment and McGavock’s Academy of Hospitality and Finance

Academy Partnership of the Year: Human and Public Services Partnership Council
YMCA and Cane Ridge’s Academy of Wellness and Healthy Living

Externship Project of the Year
LP Corporation and Overton’s Academy of Engineering

Academy Coach of the Year
Pam Appleton, Antioch

Academy Assistant Principal of the Year
Jennifer Bell, McGavock’s Academy of Aviation and Transportation

Executive Principal of the Year
Tony Majors, Executive Principal, Glencliff

Counselor of the Year
Jennifer Marciano, Glencliff’s Academy of Hospitality and Marketing

Freshman Academy of the Year
Glencliff’s Freshman Academy

Academy of the Year
Antioch’s The Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance

Chamber’s Choice Award (for being a difference maker in supporting high school reform in Nashville)
Cheryl Carrier, Ford Motor Company Fund

CEO Champions Awards (for extraordinary leadership and initiative in launching high school reform in Nashville)
Margaret Bess, former principal, Antioch High School
Brenda Elliott, former principal, Stratford High School
Lora Hall, former principal, Glencliff High School
Alvin Jones, former principal, Whites Creek High School
Karl Lang, former principal, Hillwood High School
Darwin Mason, former principal, Maplewood High School
Clay Myers, former principal, Hunters Lane High School
Jim Overstreet, former Director of High Schools
Michael Tribue, former principal, McGavock High School

Academy Students of the Year (presented at the May 4 PENCIL Foundation Bravo Luncheon)
Tyreke Ansah, Glencliff High School’s Ford Academy of Business
Edgar Bolivar, Overton High School’s Academy of Engineering
Ashley Brown, Hillwood High School’s Academy of Art, Design, and Communication
Kaitlyn Carter, Whites Creek High School’s Academy of Community Health
Cody Dawson, Cane Ridge High School’s Academy of Architecture and Construction
Diamond Grimes, Antioch High School’s Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance
Gerald Harris, Pearl Cohn High School’s Academy of Entertainment Communication
Emma Loyer, Hillsboro High School’s Academy of International Fine Arts
Elliott Martin, McGavock High School’s Academy of Aviation and Transportation
Megan Watson, Stratford High School’s Academy of Science and Engineering
Diamond Wright, Hunters Lane High School’s Academy of Design and Technology
Kareem Wright, Maplewood High School’s Academy of Energy and Power


The Tennessee Credit Union Academy of Business and Finance at Antioch High School wins “Academy of the Year.” Photo courtesy Gary Layda.


CEO Champions Co-Chair Steve Turner presents Cheryl Carrier, with the Ford Motor Company Fund, the “Chamber’s Choice Award.” Photo courtesy Gary Layda.