For two decades, Kevin Brinegar has led the second-largest state chamber of commerce in the nation and one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the state. The Indiana Chamber represents about 25,000 business members and customers and provides business services and policy advocacy at the state and federal levels. Brinegar also oversees the largest chamber-based political action committee in the country, in addition to a federal political action committee and three not-for-profit and two for-profit chamber subsidiaries. His recent focus has been on workforce development. He plans to retire in 2024.
Something surprising: “Early in my career, I was a police officer, and in that role, I once delivered a baby.”
Admires most: “My mother. She is only 16 years older than me. She worked long, hard hours to provide for me and, later, my sister. She began working on her bachelor‘s in business when I was in junior high school, taking one class at a time while working full time and running a household. She finished her degree two years after I finished my master‘s degree. That‘s persistence.”
As the state‘s commerce secretary and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., Brad Chambers is charged with attracting high-wage, high-growth companies to Indiana and retaining existing companies. Before his appointment by Gov. Eric Holcomb in July 2021, Chambers had spent 37 years developing and managing multifamily and mixed-use properties. As a student at Indiana University, he founded Buckingham Cos., which has grown into one of the region‘s largest development firms, with projects and acquisitions totaling more than $3 billion. Chambers also serves as a founder and board member of the Buckingham Foundation Inc.
Admires most: “Currently, it is Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”
Lessons learned: “I would offer my favorite quote from Michelangelo: ‘The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.’”
Worries: “The atrophy of public discourse.”
Wendy Chesser leads an organization that drives economic opportunities for the communities on the Indiana side of the Louisville metro area. One Southern Indiana is an economic development agency and the chamber of commerce for Clark and Floyd counties, serving 1,060 business members. A Jeffersonville native, Chesser spent nine years as president of Cornerstone Alliance Southwest Michigan before returning to Indiana to lead One Southern Indiana, where she was instrumental in the creation of the Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority. She serves on the boards of the Kentucky Derby Festival, Louisville Zoo Foundation, Align Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech Community College Sellersburg.
Hobby: “Now that my daughter is 14 and engaged in basketball and volleyball, I realize how much I enjoy organized team sports and the positive benefits.”
Reading: “‘The Southern Book Club‘s Guide to Slaying Vampires,‘ by Grady Hendrix. Nothing educational about it, but it‘s fun.”
Listening to: “White Fragility: Why It‘s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” by Robin DiAngelo
President Joe Biden appointed Joe Donnelly in October 2021 to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, a selection the Senate confirmed in January. Born in New York, Donnelly came to Indiana to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor‘s degree and then a law degree. He joined South Bend firm Nemeth Feeney and Masters before founding printing firm Marking Solutions in Mishawaka. He got into politics in 1997, winning a seat on the Mishawaka-Marian school board, then went on to win three terms in the U.S. House and a term as a U.S. senator.
As leader of the not-for-profit Northwest Indiana Forum, Heather Ennis markets a seven-county region that focuses on economic development and other business opportunities. In her eight years with the organization, Ennis has been a catalyst in building a coalition focused on population growth, increased capital investment and per-capita income growth through a regional plan called IGNITE the Region. She lobbies the Legislature on behalf of the Region and helped lead the application and implementation of the area‘s 2021 READI grant.
Hobbies: “I love skiing and wakeboarding.”
Lessons learned: “People can be mean; that‘s their problem. Learn to take the high road and focus on the outcomes you want to achieve. Drive toward something meaningful and people will follow.”
Admires most: “My parents. They have been servant-leaders in our community all of my life. They have dramatically changed the lives of people across the area with their work, love and dedication.”
Larry Garatoni has owned and managed more than a dozen companies, starting in the 1960s when he and a partner built and operated a long-term-care facility. He continued to open facilities as part of Health Quest Group. He sold those companies in 1994 and started acquiring software and internet sales companies, which he sold in 2007. Garatoni became a charter schools advocate, and he and his wife, Judy, founded the Career Academy and the Success Academy charter schools in South Bend, where Larry is board chair. The couple also founded the Garatoni-Smith Family Foundation and recently donated $2.5 million to Ivy Tech Community College, which is naming its Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Automation in South Bend for the couple. Garatoni serves on the Ivy Tech board.
Over a career of nearly four decades, Greg Gibson has founded, owned or led more than 50 companies, spanning a variety of industries, including commercial and residential real estate development, hospitality and food service, trucking and transportation, excavation, coal mining, solid waste and landfills, and recycling and waste advisory services. But he has been just as active in civic and community roles. He is chairman of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau, a founding member of the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board, and a member of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology board of trustees and the Indiana Port Commission. He also serves on the First Financial Bank board.
Something surprising: “Although in my business endeavors I‘m usually wearing a suit and tie, I am much more comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt. I love the outdoors and love to be outside. I especially enjoy hunting and fishing with my son, Jack.”
Lessons learned: “I believe it‘s exceptionally important that each of us take interest in grooming the leaders of tomorrow.”
Earl Goode is chief of staff to Gov. Eric Holcomb and served in the same position for Gov. Mitch Daniels. He joined Holcomb‘s staff in 2017 and leads the administration‘s cabinet and staff across state government, in addition to overseeing the governor‘s Next Level Agenda. Goode has also served as commissioner of the Department of Administration, president of the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board and on dozens of government and not-for-profit boards and commissions. Goode spent 39 years with GTE (now Verizon), where he served as president of four separate GTE business units.
Admires most: Gen. George C. Marshall Jr.
Reading: “One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General,” by William P. Barr
Advice for young people: “The quickest way to the top is to take your time.”
Favorite contribution: “Supporting ICAN (Indiana Canine Assistant Network) through sponsorships.”
The Rev. Charles Harrison is senior pastor of Barnes United Methodist Church, where he has served since 1993, and a co-founder of the Indianapolis TenPoint Coalition, which was launched in 1999. The TenPoint Coalition‘s goal is to bring the faith-based community together with community leaders and law enforcement to address violent crime. Harrison is chairman of the TenPoint Coalition board and continues to walk in neighborhoods, talking to families and people on the streets in an effort to deescalate tense situations. A Jeffersonville native, Harrison has also served as chaplain for the Indiana State Police.
Anne Hathaway in 2009 founded Hathaway Strategies, an Indianapolis-based public affairs firm. She is a member of the Republican National Committee, co-chair of the 2024 RNC Presidential Debate Committee and chair of the Republican National Committee Site Selection Committee for the party‘s 2024 and 2028 national conventions. Hathaway came to Indiana in 1993 from Washington, D.C., to run former Vice President Dan Quayle‘s office and later worked as the RNC‘s chief of staff. She is president of the Indiana chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and executive director of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series.
Something surprising: “I am painfully shy. Give me a role and I can execute in a large group, but I am awkward and uncomfortable in a ballroom full of people if I don‘t have an assignment.”
Hobby: “The lake where my family has a home is my special place and being near the water helps me to re-center and find peace.”
Toughest challenge: “My own insecurity.”
