Page 15 - EOB Dec18

WEBB TIMELINE
1990 LewistownChamber of Commerce
Executive Director
1995 Marriedhiswife,Kathy
1995 VPatBillingsArea Chamber of Commerce
1999 BecametheMontanaof Commerce President/CEO
2000 Created the rst Judicial Review
2000 High School Business Challenge kicks off in fall
2001 Chamber Days at the Capitol rebranded
as Business Days at the Capitol
2001 Brown earns his Certi ed Association Executive
designation from the American Society of Association Executives
2006 Joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100
2009 Governors’ Cup Golf Tournament expands to
3 courses
2011 HB 344 passed, improved workers compensation
2013 FirstManufacturing and International Trade
Day held
2013 FirstMontana Manufacturer of the Year Named (Spika Welding)
2015 Elected as board member for National Association
of Manufacturers
2016 First Kelly Kuntz Memorial Scholarship Awarded
2018 CreationoftheJudy Martz Women in Leadership Fund
2018 Brownretiresafter 20 years with the
Montana Chamber
HAPPY RETIREMENT!
SPARKING GROWTH AT STATE CHAMBER
Brown is a fth-generation Montanan who was raised on the family ranch in northwestern Montana near Trout Creek.
He attended Trout Creek Elementary and Noxon High School, but he graduated from Lima High School. Brown earned his bachelor’s’ degree in political science from the University of California at Riverside in 1983. During that time, he completed internships with the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce and in Washington D.C. for then-Sen. Baucus.
After graduation, Brown returned to Montana and joined his two brothers as a business partner to form 2B’s Logging. He worked with his brothers from 1983-1991. Brown also served on the board of the Montana Logging Association from 1985-89.
During this time, Brown also organized and became the executive di- rector of the Sanders County Economic Development Corp. With all of his exposure to business, Brown decided to make advocacy his career. He jumped into the chamber world in 1990 when he became the execu- tive director of the Lewistown Area Chamber of Commerce.
He moved to the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce in 1995 and was named the new president/CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce in 1999.
One of the programs created during Brown’s tenure was Chamber Choices. This was an associated healthcare plan that many of the cham- ber members took part in, including Tami Christensen with Tri County Implement in Sidney.
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“I used Chamber Choices and it was really good for business,” she said. “When we had the Chamber Choices plan for my small business it re- duced the cost of of health insurance because we were part of a bigger group. I totally supported that.”
In fall 2016, the Montana Chamber of Commerce rolled out its 10-year strategic plan, Envision 2026. This plan has four key goals that include being seeing Montana in the top 10 of all U.S. states in Gross State Product Growth, top half of per capita personal income, top 10 of all U.S. states in percentage of job growth and the top 10 of all U.S. states in per capita personal income growth. These four goals are to be ac- complished through improving infrastructure, workforce development, entrepreneurship and business basics.
In the two years Brown has helped lead the efforts of Envision 2026,
@MontanaChamber
Retirement continued on page 16