The GEDA Nominating Committee meets annually in the summer to select a slate of Officers and Directors for the coming year. The Nominating Committe consists of the five current Officers, the President from two years ago (Past Past President) and three at-large members appointed by the current President. Officers generally start as Secretary-Treasurer and then progress through the positions over a five-year period.
To submit names for the Nominating Committee to consider for the Officers and Board of Directors, fill out this form and email to the GEDA Offices.
Officers
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Chairman
Pat Topping, CEcD
Pat has been in the economic development industry since 1991. He has served as president of chambers in Milledgeville/Baldwin County from 1991 – 1993 and Cumming/Forsyth County from 1996-1999. Currently he serves as the Senior Vice President for the Macon Economic Development Commission (MEDC). MEDC is the private/public agency responsible for new business recruitment and existing business retention in Macon and Bibb County.
Prior to his economic development career Pat spent 23 years in the telecommunications and automotive aftermarket industries.
He is active in the Georgia Economic Developers Association (GEDA) serving as various Committee Chairs and as a member of the Board of Directors 2001-2003. He currently serves on the Executive Committee as 1st Vice President of the 1,000 member organization and will assume the presidency of the group in 2009
He is also active in other economic development and corporate real estate organizations including the SEDC, IAMC and IEDC.
Pat has published articles relating to economic development in trade publications including ED Review and has taught a section of the Development Authority Board Member Training course offered by UGA.
Pat received his Certified Economic Development certificate in 2003. He attended UGA and received his BBA from Georgia State University, Atlanta, and his MBA from Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville. Pat graduated from Mount de Sales Academy in Macon.
In addition to his economic development activities Pat also has been an adjunct professor for 18 years for Georgia College and State University and Macon State College in the Business and Economics Department.
Pat and his lovely wife, Shirley, are the proud parents of four young adults and two super grandsons.
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First Vice Chairman
Bob White, CEcD
Bob White is celebrating his 22st year in economic development, and his 13th year as executive director of the Henry County Development Authority. Bob joined the Development Authority in 1995, following 15 years with the Atlanta Gas Light Company where he served as Assistant Director of Economic Development.
During his 13-plus years with the Development Authority, Bob has been directly involved in the recruitment or expansion of more than 50 industries including such names as Toys “R” Us, Sunglass Hut International, Amazon.com, the Sports Authority, Georgia Power Company, SunTrust Service Corporation, Home Depot and Whirlpool, just to name a few. These companies represent substantially more than 7,000 direct new jobs and direct capital investment of more than $1 billion.
Bob is actively involved in state and national economic development professional organizations and is currently Secretary-Treasurer of the Georgia Economic Developers Association. He was a contributor to the Georgia Development Authority Handbook which was produced by UGA’s Fanning Institute, and has served as an instructor in UGA’s Development Authority Board Member Training Program and as a “mentor/coach” at UGA’s inaugural Development Authority Executives Leadership Management Institute.
He has been a Certified Economic Developer since 1995 and is a graduate of both the Basic Economic Development Course at Georgia Tech and the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
Bob is a Journalism graduate of the University of Georgia. He is married to the former Laura Bray and he has one son, Drew, who is a student at UGA.
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Second Vice Chair
Misti Martin, CEcD
Misti Martin is a native of Georgia and has been in the Chamber and Economic Development field since 1991. In February 2004, she was named as the Executive Director of the Development Authority of Cherokee County. Martin worked with the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce & Development Authority for six years previously as well as the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. She also served as President of the Newton County Chamber of Commerce in Covington, Georgia from 1998-2004 before returning to her hometown of Canton.
Ms. Martin received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management from the University of Georgia and earned her MBA in 2000. She is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute (EDI) from the University of Oklahoma as well as the Institute for Organization Management at the University of Georgia. Misti has held numerous positions on state boards for Chamber and Economic Development organizations. She is currently serving as an officer on the Georgia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors.
Misti is married to Jud Martin, and they have three sons, Whit (6), Wilder (4), and Wyatt (3 months).
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Secretary-Treasurer
JoAnne Lewis
Jo Anne Lewis is President of the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Douglas-Coffee County Industrial Authority.
She has more than 20 years of economic development experience with local and state government; serving a Main Street Director, Director of Tourism, and Community Service Director for the City of Douglas. She later serving as state-wide Tourism Product Development Manager for Georgia Department of Economic development prior to joining the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber and Economic Development Authority.
She has served in leadership roles in many regional and state organizations. She received Georgia’s Al Burress Lifetime achievement for the State of Georgia and the NREDA Leadership Award in 2007.
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Immediate Past Chairman
Chris Clark, CEcD
On April 2, 2009, Chris Clark was sworn in as Commissioner of Natural Resources by Governor Sonny Perdue. He is the fifth person to head the agency and its 2500 employees . The agency oversees hunting and fishing preservation, regulations and enforcement, the state parks and historic sites, Georgia’s wildlife and natural management areas, historic preservation, conservation and environmental education programs, sustainability initiatives, coastal management and environmental protection.
Prior to his appointment as DNR commissioner, Mr. Clark served as executive director of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA). GEFA manages the state environmental bank by providing financing for water infrastructure projects and is home to the State Energy Office, the Georgia Land Conservation Program, and Georgia’s Energy Innovation Center.
Commissioner Clark is an advisory board member for the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and a member of the advisory board for the College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Southern University. He is a graduate of Georgia’s first executive leadership program, and serves as president of the Georgia Economic Developers Association (GEDA).
Mr. Clark was previously deputy commissioner for global commerce at the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), the marketing arm of the state of Georgia. During his tenure, the state enjoyed record years with more than 40,000 new jobs and more than $8 billion in new investment.
Prior positions include president & CEO of the Fayette County Development Authority in metro Atlanta, and president & CEO of the Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce and Development Association.
A native of Fitzgerald, Ga., Commissioner Clark earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and received a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia College and State University. In 2000, Georgia College and State University named him the “Recent Alumnus of the Year,” and in 2006, Georgia Trend Magazine named him to its annual “40 Under 40” list of state leaders. He is a member of the 2008 Leadership Georgia class.
Mr. Clark, his wife Tiffany and son Christian reside near Peachtree City in Fayette County, Georgia and attend Dogwood Baptist Church.
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