A group effort begins to develop strong leadership in Commerce and Hunt County

Commerce, Texas -- January 23 marked the first meeting of fifteen members making up the twenty-fifth class of Commerce Leadership Institute. The group met for half a day at the local State Farm Insurance office in Commerce to begin a journey of learning about Commerce, Hunt County, and group dynamics. By the end of their journey together they will know more about Commerce and Hunt County than many who have spent their lives here.

The first item on the day’s agenda was to learn the history of the organization. Janet Peek, one of the organizers of the first group explained how CLI began, its purposes, and how the logo was developed.

Dixie Turman, CLI President, introduced several board members. June Dunn, Janet Peek, Donna Tavener, Kathleen Hooten and Alton Biggs represented the organization’s leadership.

Each year, members from the previous class step up to lead the new group. Billie Abell, Becky Adams, and Amy Basham agreed to be team leaders for the new class. They have already begun planning of future speakers and events for the new class.

“This is a perfect group,” stated Dixie Turman. “We have almost an equal distribution of men and women, university and non-university, people that have lived in the Hunt County area for years and some new.”

“I’m pleased that this group accepted the invitation to join CLI,” Alton Biggs continued. “The class appears strong and confident. I predict that we will hear more from many of them as they assume additional leadership responsibilities in the future.”

After a break, class members introduced each other and took a personality style inventory, Ms. Turman explained the different personality styles and how they most often interact with one another. For some members of the class, this exercise was an eye-opener that allowed them to understand more about their spouses, family members, and employers. Class members sometimes cite the personality inventory as one of the most interesting parts of the CLI adventure.

The class meets approximately once every two weeks during the spring. After the last meeting, the class takes on a fundraising project. The class graduates in the fall.

The twenty-fifth class of the Commerce Leadership poses for their Class Photo.  Front row (left to right): Kay Hatfield, Andrea Miller, Sarah Baker, Lisa Singleton, Susan Osgood, Lisa Pope, Denny Yoakum.  Middle row (left to right): Denise Golden, Gabby Fox, Mimi Dobbs, Patrick Just.  Back row (left to right): Randy VanDeven, Amber Weaver, Tom Faulkenberry, Roger Greer, Mike Pehl, Chad Ballard, Jeff Johnson