Home » Jim Booth elected Kentucky Chamber board chairman; exec committee named

Jim Booth elected Kentucky Chamber board chairman; exec committee named

Frankfort, Ky. (Oct. 5, 2012) – The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce announced today  James H. Booth, president of Booth Energy, has been elected chairman of its 2013 Board of Directors. The Kentucky Chamber is the state’s largest business organization, representing businesses of all sizes throughout the commonwealth.

James H. Booth
President
Booth Energy

Booth succeeds 2012 Chairman Luther Deaton Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Central Bank & Trust in Lexington. Mary Pat Regan, president of AT&T Kentucky, has been named chair-elect for 2013 and will serve as Kentucky Chamber Chairwoman in 2014.

Booth is a lifelong resident of Martin County, Ky. After earning a degree in business administration from Morehead State University in 1971, Booth accepted a management position with Wolf Creek Collieries. He partnered to start his first contract mining operation in 1975 and has since added many more mining operations in the Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia area.

His mining group now supplies over seven million tons of coal annually to electric utilities in the eastern United States. Over the years, Booth and his associates also entered into the retail industry. Combined, the mining operations and retail operations employ approximately 2,100 personnel in the eastern region of Kentucky and southern West Virginia.

Serving with Booth, Deaton and Regan on the chamber’s 2013 Executive Committee will be:

  • Treasurer Paula Hanson, director of tax services for Dean Dorton Allen Ford;
  • Kevin Canafax, vice president of government relations/public policy and midwest site leader for Fidelity Investments;
  • Dan Bork, vice president of tax for Lexmark International;
  • David Gray, president of Baptist Hospital East;
  • Chris Hermann, senior vice president of energy delivery for LG&E and KU Energy;
  • Wil James, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Kentucky;
  • Steve Loyal, vice president of government affairs for Atmos Energy Corporation.
  • Deirdre Lyons, co-founder, and director of corporate image and project management for Alltech Inc.;
  • Elizabeth McCoy, president and CEO of Planters Bank;
  • Lynn Parrish, president of Marwood Land Company; and
  • Tierra Kavanaugh Turner, CEO of TKT-Nectir Global Staffing LLC.

Newly elected 2012 members are:

  • Joe Craft III, president and CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.;
  • Cheryl Norton, president, Kentucky American Water; and
  • Linda Vitale, Ph.D, board member, Computer Services Inc.

A full board listing, including members continuing their terms, can be found online at kychamber.com.