There may not have been a bigger pair of shoes in Petal to fill in recent memory other than those of Valerie Wilson, who recently announced her retirement as executive director of the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce after an 11-year stint at that organization.
Fortunately for the Friendly City, the chamber’s board of directors seems to have found a great replacement for Wilson in Kammie Carpenter, who began her transitional period on June 10 and officially begins her new position on July 9.
“I’m very honored, and I feel blessed to be able to serve the Petal community,” Carpenter said. “Valerie has done an amazing job, and has positioned this chamber to just launch.
“I’m picking up the baton she’s handing me, and I hope to launch some of her ideas to the next level.”
One of Carpenter’s immediate goals will be the revamp of the chamber’s website – which can be found at www.petalchamber.com – a measure that was recently approved by the board of directors. In addition, Carpenter also is looking at a new logo/identity package.
“It’s about that time, so I’ll be working feverishly on that, in addition to just looking at the existing programs that are going on with the chamber,” she said. “We’ll be adding professional development for our local businesses, our small businesses to our large businesses.
“So we’ll be adding that feature, and bringing in some dynamic speakers to speak to our local businesses about digital technology and different things that can really enhance their business.”
Carpenter, who has lived in Petal for almost six years with her husband Kevin, is originally from Lamar County. The couple has five children between them.
Carpenter graduated from Purvis High School in 1987 before attending Jones County Junior College (now Jones College). She went to the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences.
She then transitioned to pharmaceutical sales and switched over to the hospitality industry.
“At the time, that job in the pharmaceutical industry was intense, and I was all over the place in lots of states,” Carpenter said. “So my friend in the hotel business, she said ‘well, I think you’d be great at marketing hotels,’ so I started out in the hotel business as a director of sales, and then quickly moved to the general manager position.
“I have opened literally eight hotels – either opening from the ground up or complete renovations – and that’s where I have worked with many, many chambers (of commerce) across the nation. (I’ve worked with) chambers, city municipalities, and I’m always very supportive of chambers of commerce, the city’s tourism – all of that.”
That experience is exactly what led Carpenter to put her name in the hat for the role at the Petal chamber, and why she thinks it will serve her well at that organization.
“I think my whole career up to this point has just set me up for this … I’ve worked with so many,” she said. “I just feel like it has completely prepared me to go right into this (new role) and hit the ground running, and just do some very, very dynamic things for the Petal area.”
Wilson, who has served as executive director of the chamber since 2013, announced her retirement in early April. She will continue to officially serve in that role until July 31.
“It’s always a concern when you decide to leave a position, that whoever follows you will be able to pick up where you left off,” Wilson said. “Kammie is going to be a wonderful asset to the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Petal, to our whole area.
“She is very, very accomplished in so many different areas, and really cares about the people of Petal and what she can do to make this a better place. I’m thrilled, and I think I’m turning it over … to better hands, and that’s my dream, is to take what I could do with it and turn it over to someone who can improve immeasurably on what we’ve already done.”
