MEET THE CHAMBER BOARD CHAIR
W. CLAY H. FORD GREATER OWENSBORO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOARD CHAIR PARTNER, EM FORD
Tell us about yourself.
free time is devoted to Owensboro
I was born and raised in Owensboro
and trying to make our community a
and graduated from Owensboro High School. I then moved to Lexington to attend and graduate from the University of Kentucky with finance and management degrees.
I always
knew that I wanted to work with my dad and participate in our family insurance and investments business, EM Ford. I was fortunate enough to convince my lovely wife, Diane, to come to Owensboro with me to start the journey together. I was given the opportunity to launch our Investments and Financial Planning division, and later lead the Benefits division, before becoming a fourth generation owner of the business with my brother, Neel. I am proud to be leading our company towards our 100 year anniversary and to be surrounded by over 30 great people not just working hard, but also
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GO CHAMBER . SECOND EDITION 2021
better place to live and work. I’ve really enjoyed working with the Chamber, the Prichard Committee, the Wendell Ford Government Education Center, Wendell Foster and others. The people you meet are so easy to be inspired by. Education is the great equalizer in our country, if it is appreciated by those who have access to it and by those who fund it. I want to spend time learning about ways our system can better serve our students, and ultimately benefit employers in our region, by creating a highly qualified and motivated workforce.
What are you looking forward to most in your role as Board Chair? I most look forward to watching the exceptional staff at the Chamber help our Members succeed. They constantly work to find new ways to make a
working smart on behalf of our clients.
positive difference in our community.
Diane loves Owensboro as much as
The board consists of great community
I do and we have been blessed to raise
leaders to learn from and gives me
our two children, Whitley and John
the chance to see contrasting ideas
Clay, in a fantastic community. My
for solving problems or leveraging
hobbies revolve around my family. We
Owensboro’s unique strengths for
love to go to the farm and get as muddy
future success.
as we can, play tennis, participate in
is special, but I’m biased, so I look
any watersport at the lake, or take
forward to using this time to think big
late night bike rides to Sonic once
and tackle important issues that may be
summer rolls around! Otherwise, any
serving as roadblocks to advancement
I know Owensboro
