OCTOBER 15, 2025
TODAY’S PROGRAM WELCOME
Bill Miles
President & CEO,
Hilton Head Island & Bluffton Chamber of Commerce
Susana Cook
Immediate Past Chair
General Manager - Hilton Garden Inn
PRESENTATION OF COLORS & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Parris Island Marine Band
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Parris Island Marine Color Guard
INVOCATION
Todd Cullen, Hilton Head Island Community Church
KEYNOTE
ADDRESS
Christopher Smith
Chief Project Implementation Officer and General
Counsel of Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America
ELECTED LEADERS ROUND TABLE
Alice Howard
Beaufort County Council Chair
Mayor Alan Perry
Town of Hilton Head Island
Mayor Larry Toomer
Town of Bluffton
Mayor Harry Williams
Town of Hardeeville
CHRISTOPHER SMITH
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Chief
Officer
Project Implementation
& General
Counsel
Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America
Christopher is the Chief Project Implementation Officer for the Hyundai plant that’s under construction in Bryan County, Georgia. It’s $7.59 billion state-of-the-art smart automotive assembly plant that will employ 8,500+ employees and manufacture automobiles and electric vehicle batteries.
The facility sprawls over 3,000 acres and aims to produce 300,000 electric vehicles a year, blending AI, robotics, and human labor. The plant will also be powered by solar energy. It will open between the end of 2024 to early 2025.
A lawyer by trade, Smith has been with Hyundai for nearly 20 years. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law.
CHAIR ALICE HOWARD
BEAUFORT COUNTY COUNCIL
Alice G. Howard and her husband moved to Beaufort County in 1991. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Georgia, a bachelor of science in community planning and development from Columbus College, and an associate arts degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
She has more than 30 years of experience as a community liaison working with environmental, natural resources, public administration, and regional planning issues. She retired from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, where she served as the Natural Resources and Environmental Director, and later the Community Plans and Liaison Officer.
MAYOR ALAN PERRY
TOWN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND
Mayor Alan Perry moved to Hilton Head Island with his family in 1972, and graduated from high school from Hilton Head Preparatory School, where he was voted “Most Likely to Be Mayor” by his senior class. He then graduated from the College of Charleston, and after returned to Hilton Head Island to begin his career.
Mayor Perry is a member of Providence Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors, Greater Hilton Head Island Mortgage Lenders Association, and Hilton Head Home Builders Association. He has also served on the Planning Commission for Town of Hilton Head Island, People for Parks, RBC Heritage Classic Presented by Boeing Announcers, Hilton Head Island Recreation Association, Hilton Head Prep Alumni Board, United Way, the Hilton Head Island/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Junior Leadership Class, and others.
MAYOR LARRY TOOMER TOWN
OF BLUFFTON
Larry Toomer was first elected to Bluffton Town Council in 2012 and then Mayor in 2023. He is a fourth-generation commercial fisherman who owns the Bluffton Oyster Company (the last oyster shucking factory in South Carolina) and Toomer’s Seafood Restaurant. His great-grandfather came to Hilton Head in 1913 to oyster and shrimp. Mayor Toomer was born two years after the J. Byrnes Bridge, a drawbridge, was built and by 12 years old, Toomer was helping with his family business and pulling 100 crab pots a day. He graduated from McCracken High School in 1976. In 1986, he met his wife, Tina, on the beaches of Hilton Head Island and has grown his family, his career, and his life in Bluffton ever since. They have five children, one “bonus daughter,” and many beautiful grandchildren.
MAYOR HARRY WILLIAMS
CITY OF HARDEEVILLE
Born in Philadelphia, Mayor Harry Williams earned his bachelor’s degrees in economics from Rutgers University. He is a 42-year veteran of the footwear industry, including as vice president of sales for Oshkosh, Body Glove, U.S. Polo Association, and others.
Mayor Williams has over 30 years of experience working in municipal government including serving as a city councilman in Mahwah, N.J. for five years and three years on the planning board there. He was elected to the Hardeeville City Council in 2015 and mayor in 2016. He’s also currently chair of the Southern Lowcountry Advisory Board and a member of the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
