Most people don’t get to see themselves on a screen 25 feet high by 70 feet wide, but during her introduction to the local business community, Shari Fiveash found herself staring out the window of the AEVEX Veterans Club of Segra Stadium with her name in lights and watching the Fayetteville Woodpeckers practicing on the field below.

As the new president and CEO of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, Fiveash brings leadership and fresh ideas to the chamber, which has been without a president for a little less than a year. 

Former President Christine Michaels, resigned from the position in October for a similar role at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce in Tennessee.

During Fiveash’s introduction on May 3, Tammy Thurman, community relations manager at Piedmont Natural Gas, and part of the search committee, provided information about the chamber’s selection process.

She pointed to the 30-plus years of experience, as well as her lobbying background that made Fiveash stand out from other candidates.

Fiveash, who sat down with the Business Journal on May 12, said several times that one of the organization’s primary functions should be to advocate for local businesses of all sizes, that includes representing the business community in front of various legislative bodies at both the statehouse in Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

She again echoed her comments made during her instruction on May 3, saying she felt blessed for finding such a good fit for her experience and skills.
“I think it’s very important that we thank both the city and the county for making the community what it is because it drew us here,” Fiveash said. She said that when she came to interview for the position, that “I have never been more comfortable in an interview.”

Fiveash comes to Fayetteville with her husband, Randy, from Hartford Connecticut where she was a partner with Fiveash Consulting, to market business development in the state of Connecticut. Randy Fiveash recently retired from his position as director of the Connecticut Office of Tourism.

According to prepared information from the Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, Fiveash is an accomplished strategy executive with more than 30 years of proven leadership in chamber of commerce and tourism industries. 

“She has had repeated success in strategic planning, association management, community building, economic development, Chamber programs, fundraising and development, meeting and event planning, consulting, and community retention,” according to the statement.

Thurman pointed to her 30-plus years of experience in “building sustainable relationships with businesses, government, economic development, community leaders and lobbying,” Thurman stated.

Thurman also praised the chamber staff who kept the organization running during the search period.

“On behalf of the search committee leaders who have been working on this multilayer process, we are grateful to Christine Michaels for her leadership and Taneshia Kerr in her role as interim,” Thurman said.

Fiveash said she was anxious to get to work learning as much as she can about the community and how the chamber can play a role in providing the tools for success with local businesses, but especially with small businesses, “especially coming out of COVID,” she said.

“We have businesses of all sizes that can benefit from the programs the chamber provides,” Fiveash said. “A lot of tools that big businesses have are not available to small businesses.”

She pointed to marketing tools that the chamber could help provide that could help small businesses thrive.

She also suggested that Fayetteville has room to improve in the area of keeping young people in the community.

“We don’t want to bleed out,” Fiveash said. “We need to grow out our own to encourage young people to stay.”

Part of that strategy, she said, may include forming a board to support young entrepreneurs.

“There is a ton of opportunity here,” Fiveash said. “Look at the (chamber’s) Board of Directors; there is a lot of experience here. We have a very strong board.”

Fiveash said she hoped that working to build partnerships with the many experienced people in Fayetteville would encourage businesses that may be struggling — especially considering the challenges of the past year.

During her interview with the Business Journal, Fiveash returned many times to the ideas of building partnerships and supporting local businesses. Likewise, those themes were a strong part of her introduction at Segra Stadium.

“One of the things I’m looking forward to in the future,” she said before pausing for a moment to continue with “2020 was a year of lemons in my book,” Fiveash said. “I was talking to the team at the chamber, which I have to thank for keeping it intact and keeping it running over the time when they were without their CEO, but they kept it going and that’s really important. 

“I said we’re going to take what we have, which is a bowl of lemons, and we’re going to make lemonade over the next year,” Fiveash said.

She said she was looking forward to working with local businesses — especially small businesses — to take advantage of “lots of programs” to provide support and get small businesses open again.

She suggested that small businesses, as well as larger companies, could use chamber directed programs “that join us all together,” Fiveash said. “So we’re going to grow this community and look for partnerships with the economic development, with the tourism sector, with every facet of this community so we are in partnership together.”

Fiveash has stated that she believes her mission “should be to make the region a better place to live and work. We need to enhance the quality of life in the region by facilitating partnerships among public, private, and corporate citizens by building a foundation of cooperation,” she said.

According to the prepared biographical information, Fiveash has served numerous Chambers across the country including Lexington, Kentucky, Branson, Missouri, Chillicothe, Missouri, and South Windsor, Connecticut, where she also served as the Economic Developer for the Town of South Windsor, holding positions from chief executive officer to executive vice president/chief operating officer, with direct responsibility for a $7 million budget with matching grants program. 

She also provided consulting assistance to an array of municipal and business organizations from the South to the Northeast regions of the United States.

Looking forward, Fiveash said part of the chamber’s job is to help retain and support existing businesses. Much of that is done through networking events that connect business leaders together.

“We are very virtual at this point,” she said, but she said just as soon as the governor relaxed some of the COVID restrictions, the chamber would relaunch its Business Afterhours events and other networking programs.

“There is a momentum that is starting,” Fiveash said. “There are people I have talked to who are anxious to move this chamber forward.”

She and her husband Randy, within their blended family, have five children, spread from California to New Jersey and points in between, and two granddaughters.