MEETING & BANQUET Monroe Chamber 101st Annual

Our 101st Annual Meeting and Banquet hosted by the Monroe Chamber of Commerce was held Thursday, March 10, 2022 at the Monroe Civic Center Conference Hall. Emcee for the evening was Roy Heatherly, President & CEO for the Monroe Chamber. The evening was a celebration of the Chamber, its members and all of the great things happening in Monroe. John Landry, a partner at McNew, King and Landry and the 2021 Chairman of the Board, provided a recap of the year via a video presentation and personal comments. Landry highlighted the resiliency of the Chamber coming out of the pandemic, new initiatives the Chamber has launched and the transition to new leadership. Landry praised retired Chamber president Sue Nicholson for her years of leadership and community service. Landry also recognized the Chamber staff: Ruthie Wheatley, Daphne Garrett, Sarita Daniel, and Terri Arthur for the great job they do. He also recognized the Chamber’s Ambassadors Club and named Robert D’Avignon with the Louisiana Purchase Council Boy Scouts of America as the 2021 Bernard Heflin Ambassador of the Year.

Tania Hilburn, Site Manager for Chase Home Finance and the 2022 Chair of the Chamber Board of Directors, outlined the Chamber’s plans for the coming year, which includes new focus areas including Healthcare, Technology, Non-Profits, Small Business, Healthcare, and Diversity & Inclusion which complement the Chamber’s efforts in Workforce, Education, Government and Membership. Hilburn also mentioned some increase marketing initiatives the Chamber will working on with our marketing partner, Kinetix.

Mayor Friday Ellis spoke about new projects going on in the city and about the excitement across our region. The mayor thanked the Chamber for helping create positive dialogues about the city. Ellis also mentioned the collaboration between the cities, the parish, and the chambers. The keynote address was given by Dr. Randy Esters, Chancellor of Louisiana Delta Community College. Dr. Esters has been in his role since June of 2021 and is making a huge impact. Esters delighted the crowd with his stories and the direction LDCC is going. He challenged the audience to change the conversation about career paths. He also presented some sobering job opening statistics. Dr. Esters praised the other Higher Education institutions in the area and told the crowd to be watching for some exciting news coming from LDCC and ULM. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 57th Rambin-Silverstein Memorial Civic Award to Sue Nicholson, past President & CEO of The Monroe Chamber of Commerce. The award was presented by Anne Lockhart. Lockhart praised Nicholson’s spirit of giving back and tireless desire to improve this community. Lockhart described Nicholson as a champion of this area and highlighted her work in Workforce, Governmental Advocacy and for leading the efforts to complete the

Kansas Lane Connector. Nicholson is a summa cum laude graduate of Louisiana Tech, has worked for the Ruston-Lincoln Convention and Business Bureau, served ten years as the President of the West Monroe West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce and at ULM before taking over the leadership of the Monroe Chamber. Nicholson is married to Tom Nicholson, and they have 3 children, her daughters Jennifer and Sarah and Tom’s son Conner as well as seven grandchildren. Long time Banking Executive and Civic Leader Malcolm Maddox won the Kitty DeGree Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in Business. Maddox’s good friend Joe Holyfield presented the award. Maddox recently retired after a 50-year career in banking. Malcom Maddox graduated from Northwestern University and was elected to their College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999. Malcolm Maddox worked locally at People’s Homestead, First National Bank, Hibernia Bank, Capital One Bank, and Iberia Bank. Maddox was praised for his leadership and for helping businesses grow and prosper. One nominator described him as the “go to person to help businesses grow and thrive through creative approaches to complex financial matters.” Maddox’s civic work includes the Boy Scouts, The United Way, The Rotary, OEDC, among others and his nominators praised his help with ULM and VCOM. Maddox is married to Jo Maddox, and they have 3 daughters and 1 son-in-law. Laura Maddox and Kelly Manuel (Bret Manuel) and Jo’s daughter Sydni as well as 4 grandchildren.