Chamber CEO Appointed Chair of National Group

The Association of Chambers of Commerce Executives named the leader of the Greater Omaha Chamber as chair of its board.

David G. Brown, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber, will serve as chair of the ACCE Board of Directors for the next year. He’ll oversee the activities of a 70-member board that provides leadership to the association’s 30 staff members.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be entrusted with this role during such a thrilling time for our industry,” Brown said in a news release. “Our organizational climate is changing, and chambers are striving to become the place where community building initiatives begin and endure.

The ACCE is an association of 9,000 leaders and 1,300 chambers of commerce, representing 93 of the top 100 U.S. metro areas. Its combined membership represents nearly 1 million businesses.

“The chamber industry has a bright future, and ACCE plays a major role,” Brown said. “I look forward to leveraging our unified strength, exceptional talent and breadth of services to lead the industry as we look to the future and solve some of our communities most pressing challenges.”

Sheree Anne Kelly, president and CEO of ACCE, said Brown has been instrumental to the national group’s success in the past 15 years. He directs the Horizon Initiative: Chambers 2025, a groundbreaking effort to inspire out-of-the-box ideas for growth-centric communities.

“As we look to the future and implement our new strategic plan, we are fortunate to benefit from the caliber of proven industry experience David provides,” Kelly said. “I am confident that David’s leadership will accelerate our efforts as we work to elevate the capabilities of chambers of commerce around the world.”

A news release from the ACCE describes the Greater Omaha Chamber as “one of the largest, most highly accredited chambers in the nation” and notes that it won the 2015 ACCE Chamber of the Year recognition.

Brown has led the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership to successfully land more than 760 projects, representing more than 37,000 jobs and more than $8.6 billion in capital investment in the area since 2004.

Brown is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has completed specialized courses at the National Development Council, the American Management Association, Bell Leadership Academy and Gallup University.

“I believe that chamber executives should look into the future and get comfortable with causing change that will accomplish a long-term vision of the future for your community,” Brown said in a release. “We are the change agents. To do that you have to look over the next hill and see what disruptions we need to cause to accomplish the future we want. And just as important, we need to identify those disruptions we need to avoid to keep us on track towards our preferred future.”

In addition to his professional responsibilities and volunteer work, Brown also serves on the American Chamber of Commerce Board and is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100, which advises the U.S. Chamber on programs and services for local and regional chambers of commerce.

Brown became ACCE board chair July 15 and will serve until July 13, 2020, when Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, will take the job at the ACCE convention in Dallas.