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Matthews ready to embrace new role in hometown |
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Tuesday, 06 January 2009 |
 Paul Sims/SDN Allison Matthews, the Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s new vice president of membership and community development, arranges her business cards in a display at the GSDP’s downtown offices on Monday, her first official day on the job. By PAUL SIMS
Starkville Daily News
A woman with Starkville roots will lead the community’s Chamber of Commerce and help develop the organization’s membership.
Allison Matthews is the Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s new vice president of membership and community development. She officially started work Monday, though she took part unofficially in GSDP events over the last several weeks.
“My main job will be about fostering relationships with local businesses, maximizing our Chamber membership and focusing on services and benefits for those Chamber members,” she said Monday. She added that her main focus will be on “business owners, engaging them in Chamber activities through membership and helping them realize the benefits of being involved with the Chamber.”
“We want to hear from the local businesses about what types of Chamber activities will best serve them,” she said.
Matthews acknowledges she already knows a large number of the people she’ll be working with in her new role.
“Many of the people I’ll be working with are long-time Starkville residents and I’m familiar with many of their names and faces. But, of course, there’s also so many people I don’t know who I look forward to meeting – both current Chamber members and people who may be interested in becoming involved in the Chamber,” she said.
“One of the first things I’ll be doing is visiting members, letting them know who I am so they feel comfortable to contact me at any time,” she said.
She says GSDP President and CEO Jon Maynard is bringing fresh ideas and “I’ll be supporting his objectives as the leader of our organization.”
“Allison is going to bring a vitality to the front line of the Partnership, which is the Chamber of Commerce. She already has a wealth of marketing ability and an understanding of the development of membership services. Our members will be well-served by her efforts,” Maynard said.
“We think we’ve got a very good, convenient location here on Main Street and we would like people to drop by at their convenience. I will also be out calling on businesses often,” Matthews said.
She arrives in Starkville from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston, where she served as the coordinator of institutional development.
Matthews holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi, but says “of course, I’m a Bulldog.”
She obtained a bachelor’s degree in communication from Mississippi State University.
“Starkville is my hometown – where I grew up,” she said.
She and her husband, Todd Matthews, have two children, Samuel, 4 and Sarah, 2.
Matthews says she’s “excited to be here. I’ve been looking forward to this position. I enjoy working with people. This is fun for me.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 January 2009 )
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