Two Elected to County Business League Board

RIDGELAND – Jan Collins, Executive Director of the Madison County Business League, announced that the membership has elected two new members to the organization’s board of directors, Sidney Allen of Butler Snow and Sherry Chance of Tulane University. They will each serve a four-year term, 2012 through 2016. They replace outgoing Directors Todd Burwell, G. Todd Burwell, P.A., and Philip LeRoux of Summers Green & LeRoux.

“While we are always sad to see Directors roll off our board, we are excited about the two new Directors who are coming onboard,” said Collins. “We look forward to great things from both Mr. Allen and Ms. Chance.”

Originally from the Metro Jackson area, Sidney moved to Washington, D.C. after graduating from Ole Miss, where he was an active member of Sigma Nu Fraternity. The summer before his senior year in college, he lived in Washington and served as a Congressional Intern for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS).

Upon his return to Washington after graduation, Sidney served as an intern at the Republican National Committee during George W. Bush’s successful re-election campaign and as a Government Affairs Assistant at Jeffrey J. Kimbell and Associates. He was hired shortly thereafter as a State Caucus Manager for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), a non-profit group charged with educating members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in D.C. and State Sportsmen’s Caucuses in legislatures across the country on issues affecting sportsmen and conservation. He is credited with coordinating the establishment of the Mississippi Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus during his time at CSF, which remains a leader in the national network of state sportsmen’s caucuses to this day.

In 2007, Sidney accepted a position with one of America’s leading telecommunications companies and returned home to Mississippi to serve as their State Legislative Director. During that period, he served on the board of the Mississippi Cable Telecommunications Association and as President of CablePAC. In 2010, he was voted Top 40 Under 40 by the Mississippi Business Journal and was a member of the Mississippi Economic Council’s Leadership Mississippi class. In the fall of 2010, Sidney joined Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada, PLLC to assist with the growth and management of their Government Relations Group, where he serves today as Government Relations Director. In this capacity, he appears regularly before the Mississippi Legislature, state agencies, and U.S. Congress on behalf of his clients.

In his free time, Sidney is actively involved in the community, having served as Treasurer and President of the Phoenix Club of Jackson, benefitting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi. He also volunteers for Friends of Children’s Hospital, benefitting the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children. He and his wife, Kristin, reside in Madison with their son, Perry, and dog, Delta.

Sherry Chance, a native Floridian, has lived in Mississippi for over twenty-four years and considers Mississippi to be her home. After securing her Bachelor’s of Education from the University of Alaska – Anchorage in 1984, she moved to Mississippi and earned her Master’s of Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi. While completing her graduate studies, she worked as an elementary school teacher and later became a school principal, first in Mississippi and then in California. She returned to Mississippi in 1995.

Sherry also served as the Executive Director for the non-profit organization of the Kindness Foundation, which is based in Mississippi. This is an international educational and cultural program which places its emphasis in Russia and Ukraine. In 2003, Sherry went to work for Belhaven University where she served as the Assistant Vice President of Academics. Sherry had nearly thirty years in education when the opportunity to serve Tulane University was offered to her. She currently is the Director of the Tulane University Madison Campus for the School of Continuing Studies.

Sherry not only has a passion for education, but she is equally committed and passionate about helping others and being actively involved in the community, both locally and globally. She has served as President of the Madison the City Chamber of Commerce, President of the Madison-Ridgeland Rotary, Board Member for the Little Light House (helps special needs children), Education Committee member for Business League of Madison County, and actively involved in local literacy efforts. Globally, Sherry has helped to promote and support water wells in Malawi and she serves on the board of the International Institute for Christian Studies, which works with institutions of Higher Education worldwide.

Allen and Chance join existing board members Jennifer Sinclair (St. Dominic Health Services), Bill Guion (Bank Plus), Sarah Lofton (Lofton Advertising), John Almond (Allen & Hoshall), Buck Covington (Parkway Development & Weichert, Realtors-Covington Group), Lanny Slaughter (MCEDA), Dick Hutchinson (MCEDA), Scott Parrish (BancorpSouth), Jim Pettis (Wyatt Tarrant & Combs), Ex-Office directors Madison County Supervisor John Bell Crosby, Mayors Mary Hawkins Butler (Madison), Leslie Childress (Flora), Gene McGee (Ridgeland) and William Truly (Canton)..

Through partnership with the Madison County Economic Development Authority, the Madison County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution creating the Business League in March 2008. The purpose of the League is to offer the County a unique opportunity to bring a renewed spirit of cooperation and unity between the public and private sectors; thereby, encouraging proper planning for future growth and development.

6/6/2012 Madison County Journal