The Chamber’s Executive Board met on Thursday, February 16 at the Valero offices. To kick off the meeting, 2023 Chair of the Board Katie Harvey, Chief Executive Officer, KGBTexas Communications, welcomed Board Members and invited Chamber Council Chairs to give brief updates about the Council’s goals for 2023. Economic Development Council Chair Kevin Matula, Director, Government Relations & Public Policy, Zachry Group, presented his Council’s goals of developing an action-oriented agenda, redefining how the Chamber thinks about economic development and advocating for key industries. Cybersecurity Council Chair Larry Hurtado, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Qnext Corp USA, discussed advocacy, assisting military personnel transitioning out of the military, and securing a mechanism to aggregate data. Chamber Vice President of Military Affairs and Leadership Development Lori Stinson reported for the Military Affairs Council and shared goals of engaging military connections, getting Senior Non-Commissioned Officers more involved, building stronger relationships with the Texas National Guard, and military family support. Education and Workforce Council Chair Marilu Reyna, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Branding and Communications, FirstDay Foundation, shared that the Council is focused on identifying sources of data and reporting, looking at what other Chambers are doing, and partnering and collaborating with others in the community. Chamber Vice President of Public Policy Cacie Madrid shared goals for the Public Policy Council that include educating legislators about who we are and what is important to our community, serving as a resource for city and county leaders, engaging with legislators during the interim, and developing a local agenda.
Cacie Madrid presented the Chamber’s Federal Agenda, which was approved by the Executive Board. She also led a discussion on the Justice Charter, which will be on the May 6 ballot. Board members discussed the charter amendment and the negative impact the expansion of the cite and release policy would have on businesses. The Board voted to oppose the Justice Charter with a focus on cite and release and directed Chamber staff to draft a position statement on the issue.
Sam Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Pape-Dawson Engineers, briefed the Board members on a meeting that he, Interim President and CEO Dave Petersen, and other business leaders attended at CPS Energy to discuss future energy supply and the needs of the business community. Sam shared his concern that Energy availability remain a priority for the Chamber.