From Charles Wood, former Pensacola VP for Economic Development:
Dear friends,
I wanted to send out a thank you as well as let you know that I have
been recruited to take the lead economic development role in
Chattanooga, TN with their regional chamber. I truly enjoyed my time
with the Pensacola Chamber as well as starting my consulting firm
which served half a dozen communities along the gulf coast.
While I love Pensacola, Chattanooga represents a unique career
opportunity and will allow me to get back into the implementation side
of economic development. Chattanooga has been successful in recruiting
Volkswagen and Amazon.com recently and my goal will be to help them
continue that success as well as provide strategic support in the
development of a 40 year plan for Chattanooga and the surrounding 16
county region which spreads into Georgia and Alabama. I look forward
to the opportunity knowing that my time in Pensacola prepared me well
for those challenges.
While at the Pensacola Chamber I was fortunate enough to work with a
fantastic team of very talented professionals, a great board of
directors, dedicated elected officials and a community with tremendous
assets and a very bright future. I am proud to have played a role in
the creation of more than 2,500 jobs in less than five years with
companies like Pall Life Sciences, Hixardt Technologies, Synergy
Solutions, Jupiter, Ascend, Wayne Dalton, IP, Navy Federal and many
others during the worst economic downturn since the great depression.
Additionally, I sincerely hope that the community continues to support
economic development through the assets I helped create including
writing the Vision 2015 plan and developing the business incubator,
county incentive fund, tech park and iTen Wired.
None of those accomplishments would have happened without the
tremendous support and hard work of a dedicated staff, committed
investors, the city and county, Gulf Power, Pensacola State and UWF as
well as our regional partners like Florida’s Great Northwest.
This community and region has truly become my family’s coastal home.
Of course, I will continue to help as needed so please feel free to
contact me at the below contact information. I look forward to seeing
many more successes in Pensacola and the rest of Northwest Florida in
the future.
Sincerely,
Charles
Charles Wood, CEcD
Vice President – Economic Development
Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce