The Floyd County Chamber of Commerce is part of a team working to launch a new local program by early summer: Leadership Floyd. The mission of Leadership Floyd will be to present an affordable and accessible program offering practical skills, opportunities for personal and professional development, and information to citizens from the community; helping them to become effective leaders in Floyd.
The Town of Floyd has received grant funding from the Community Foundation of New River Valley to help with start-up costs, and to serve as the fiscal agent for the program. Additional support has been pledged by Appalachian Power. Many local businesses and organizations have also pledged in-kind support. Many also plan to have employees and board members participate in the program.
“This program has its roots in recent challenges that local organizations and local government have had in finding people to serve in leadership roles,” said John McEnhill, Executive Director of the Chamber. “Steven Kaylor, a former Chamber board member, advocated for a local leadership program and was instrumental in helping to get the ball rolling. We put the word out that we wanted to discuss the program at the February 2018 Chamber lunch meeting. Not only was the attendance at capacity for the meeting, the response was an overwhelming affirmative for starting a leadership program.”
The Leadership Floyd Steering Committee, which has been meeting for over a year to develop the program, currently includes Floyd County’s Community and Economic Development Director, Lydeana Martin, as well as Town of Floyd Manager Kayla Cox. It also includes Chamber board member, Beth Burgess, Head of School and Co-Founder of Springhouse Community School, Jenny Finn, and John McEnhill. Beth Burgess will serve as the Program Facilitator; working to create and maintain an environment that is conducive to learning and personal growth of leadership development for program participants.
Beth is an experienced professional. She has served in a leadership capacity for various businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental entities, both locally in Floyd and also out of state. The Committee envisions a year-long program that will include a trip to Richmond while the General Assembly is in session. It will also feature a team project that benefits the Floyd community. As part of a focus on self, an overview of local government, practical skills for leadership, and snapshots of current community issues, Program topics will include a DiSC self-assessment for participants. Anyone interested in the program should contact Beth Burgess at beth@leadershipfloydva.com with questions, ideas, or candidate referrals. “We are now working to finalize the format of the program to help ensure that it is affordable and accessible, schedule-wise, for participants.”
Visit the Facebook Page, “Leadership Floyd”, to stay informed about the Program.