The Michigan Chamber of Commerce elected new officers to its Executive Committee at a meeting held last week at the MSU Kellogg Center in East Lansing. The officers and Board of Directors of the Michigan Chamber set policy and establish priorities for the statewide business organization on key economic issues that affect job creation and business growth in Michigan.

Jeffrey S. Ammon, attorney at law, Miller Johnson, Grand Rapids, will serve as Chair of the Michigan Chamber’s Board of Directors for 2011. He replaces Daniel F. Ponder, CEO, Franco Public Relations Group, Detroit, who will become the Immediate Past Chair. David G. Sowerby, CFA, Vice President, Loomis, Sayles & Company, LP, Bloomfield Hills, was re-elected Treasurer. 

The Michigan Chamber Executive Committee consists of seven vice chairs, each representing a different geographic region.

Six vice chairs were re-elected to serve in 2011. They are: Jim MacInnes, President & General Manager, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville (District I – Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Michigan); William A. Parlberg, President & COO, Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth, Frankenmuth (District III – East Central); John M. Schreuder, Chairman & CEO, First National Bank of Michigan, Kalamazoo (District IV – Southwestern); Toni Talbot, Owner, Human Resource Management Services, Williamston (District V – South Central); Rodney M. Lockwood, Chairman & CEO, The Lockwood Companies, Bingham Farms (District VI – Southeastern); and Juliette Okotie-Eboh, PhD, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, MGM Grand Detroit, Detroit (District VII – Lower Southeastern).

Dennis Eidson, President & CEO, Spartan Stores, Inc., Grand Rapids, was elected as a new vice chair for District II (West Central).

“The Michigan Chamber is member-driven and policy-focused,” said Michigan Chamber President & CEO Rich Studley. “The Chamber’s entire staff looks forward to working with new and returning members of the Executive Committee and Board as we work to improve Michigan’s economic competitiveness and move Michigan forward.”

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is a statewide business organization representing approximately 6,800 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. The Michigan Chamber represents employers of every size and type in all 83 counties of the state. The Chamber was established in 1959 to be an advocate for Michigan’s job providers in the legislative, political and legal process.