Pensacola Business Radio - 10.30.15 - Vision 2015 Guest: Clay Ingram - Pensacola Chamber of Commerce

Pensacola Business Radio

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Clay Ingram / Pensacola Chamber of Commerce

President & CEO

The Honorable Clay Ingram is a passionate community leader with a history of service to the people of Northwest Florida. He was elected to lead the Greater Pensacola Chamber in December of 2014.

Ingram was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010 and has been re-elected subsequently. He currently serves as the Chair of the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee and has been appointed by the Speaker of the House to serve on the Florida Defense Support Task Force and the Joint Legislative Budget Commission.

Prior to being elected to the legislature, Ingram worked in sales, real estate and as a teacher in the Escambia County School District, where he taught courses in the Exceptional Student Education Department at J.M. Tate High School.

A Pensacola native, Ingram is a graduate of J.M. Tate High School and of Florida State University (FSU), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in general communication and a minor in political science. While at FSU, Ingram was a member of the football team, where he started 49 straight games for Coach Bobby Bowden and was a member of the 1999 National Championship team. He was also named to the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll.

An active member of the community, Ingram is a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church, the Cantonment Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow), Century Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida and Board of Directors of the Florida State University Alumni Association. Clay and his wife, Leslie, have two daughters, Madilyn and Lydia.

Pensacola Chamber celebrates successful five-year campaign

Vision 2015 results revealed; Investors, community partners recognized

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Oct. 29, 2015 – Tonight, the Greater Pensacola Chamber celebrated the success of its Vision 2015 initiative, a five-year job creation program. The campaign focused on recruiting new businesses, helping local businesses expand and strengthening the partnerships between the military and the private sector in the Pensacola region.

Between 2009 and 2015, the goals of the Vision 2015 campaign were completed with outstanding results:

New Jobs – 8,962 total new jobs were created with an average salary of $53,898. The goal – to create 3,000 new primary jobs in the region – was reached nearly two years sooner than the original target date.
A total of 1,191 designated jobs were added in distressed areas.
$426,488,728 is the estimated average annual payroll with a total capital investment of $779,498,210.
Unemployment – The unemployment rate dropped from 10.4 percent in 2009 to 5.0 percent in 2015.
Military Impact – The military impact increased from a 5.1 to a 7.1 billion gross regional product.
Graduation Rate – The high school graduation rate in Escambia County increased by nearly 10 percent.
Tourism – Tax dollars collected from tourism improved from 5.3 million in 2009 to 8.6 million in 2015.
Chamber Membership – Membership increased from 1,055 to 1,314 partners.

“Vision 2015 served as a catalyst to stimulate existing business growth, improve the available workforce and spearhead community improvements,” said Clay Ingram, Greater Pensacola Chamber President & CEO. “We are thrilled with the progress made over the past five years, and we will continue to work together as a community to build a bright future for the greater Pensacola area.”

The event – which took place at Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Community Center – featured Clay Ingram; Scott Luth, FloridaWest CEO; Steve Hayes, Visit Pensacola President; Ashton Hayward, Mayor; Grover Robinson, Escambia County Commissioner; Donnie McMahon, McMahon & Hadder Insurance; Collier Merrill, Merrill Land Company; Debbie Calder, Navy Federal Credit Union; and James Hosman, Florida First Capital Financial Group and AccountingFly. For more information regarding Vision 2015, please visitpensacolachamber.com/impact.

Founded in 1889, the Chamber is committed to promoting, improving and enhancing the Pensacola Region through economic development, community involvement and unity of private and public sectors.

Today, the Greater Pensacola Chamber stands united as a rededicated organization of passionate, innovative leadership and management, driven to provide professional, personable, positive assistance toward your commercial success in Pensacola: be you a long-standing local company, an enthusiastic entrepreneur or a prospective new partner, interested in relocating to our great region.

The Greater Pensacola Chamber is a 4-Star Accredited Chamber.