Jack Pelfrey, Executive Director
Jack Pelfrey is a Barbour County native, and currently lives in his hometown of Clio. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Birmingham-Southern College in 1976. Much later, in 2002, he earned his Master of Business Administration from Troy University and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi national academic honor society.
Between those two educational ventures, he had a successful corporate career, rising to vice president of Burnham Service Corporation, a specialized warehousing and trucking company.
He held a senior management line position with P&L responsibility for eight distribution centers with annual revenue of $20 million, over 300 employees, over 100 trucks and over 500,000 square feet of warehouse space.
In a senior management staff position, he created and managed a training infrastructure for training over one thousand employees and contractors at headquarters and 26 field offices across the U.S.
Pelfrey went on to hang out his shingle as an independent consultant and his clients have ranged from international third-party logistics providers to small local businesses.
He has lived in Birmingham, Dallas, Nashville, Washington, DC and the San Francisco Bay area of California, among other places. He and his wife Evelyn moved back to his hometown of Clio in 1997.
He was elected mayor of Clio in 2004. Although he chose not to seek re-election, in his one term as mayor, he focused on rebuilding Clio’s water and sewer infrastructure, overseeing a combined three and one-half million dollar water and sewer system renovation. He was also instrumental in bringing reliable cellular telephone service to the Clio end of the county, which was the number one request of seniors during his campaign for mayor.
In announcing his decision not to seek another four-year term as mayor, he stated that there were “other interests he wanted to pursue.” One of those interests was to get more involved with the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce. In 2009, the Chamber Board elected Pelfrey vice president, and he was elected president for 2010. When the Chamber reorganized effective January 2011, he was appointed executive director.
His civic involvements include a number of leadership roles. He was appointed by Governor Bob Riley to the Alabama Rural Action Commission as a regional co-chair. He is vice-chairman of the Healthcare Authority of the City of Eufaula; and vice-president of the Barbour County Governors’ Trail Council. He is the secretary of the Choctawhatchee, Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority; and sits on the RSVP of Barbour County Advisory Board.
Jim Bradley, Director of Economic Development
Jim Bradley, recently appointed the director of economic development for Eufaula and Barbour County within the Eufaula/Barbour Chamber of Commerce, has been a chamber executive for over 30 years, serving Chambers in Eufaula, Selma, the Alabama Gulf Coast, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Charleston, South Carolina. He retired to Eufaula in 2003 and was lured out of retirement in 2005 to again serve as Chamber executive.
Born in Griffin, Georgia, Jim graduated from California State University, Fullerton, where he also earned a graduate degree. His previous experience includes three years of public school teaching and three years as a college instructor in addition to his many years as a Chamber of Commerce executive.
Some of Mr. Bradley’s accomplishments and honors include: 2001 Order of the Palmetto bestowed by the governor of South Carolina; President of the Chamber of Commerce Executives Association of Alabama; President of the South Carolina Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives; President of the Texas Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives; Board Member of the United States Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the Board of Regents, Institute for Organization Management, College of Charles; Faculty, Institute for Organization Management, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, Southern Methodist University, and the College of Charleston; and received the Distinguished Service Award from Charleston Southern University. He is currently active on several boards and organizations including the Wallace Community College Foundation- Sparks Campus.
Katrina Wright, Program Manager
Katrina Wright was born and raised in Eufaula, Alabama. She is the daughter of Henry and Marie Wright and a graduate of Eufaula High School. After graduation, she worked for several years in banking. She began her career with the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce in 2005 as Visitor Information Specialist and was promoted to Program Manager in 2010.
In addition to her many duties as Program Manager, Katrina is also in charge of the Chamber Ambassador Program, Membership, Indian Summer and several other annual events. She participates in many community events as a volunteer such as the Art Show for the Eufaula Pilgrimage, where she served as Chairperson in 2010; as Co-Chair for the Annual Pilgrimage Antique Show for 2011; and as chairperson for the American Cancer Association’s Relay for Life.
Ann Sparks, Director of Tourism
Mrs. Sparks wears two hats for the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Eufaula. She has been the Executive Director of Eufaula’s Main Street for the past nine years and has just recently been named the Chamber’s Director of Tourism.
Ann is originally from Destin, Florida and attended Troy University. Her three children and husband keep her busy in addition to her daily duties at the Chamber. She enjoys painting, sports, and spending time with her family. Ann is also one of the Eufaula 2020 Strategic Plan facilitators and represents Eufaula in many aspects of media, tour groups, expos and statewide events, as well as being the coordinator of Eufaula’s downtown revitalization efforts.
Joy Crawford , Visitor Information Specialist
The first voice you hear at the Chamber of Commerce belongs to Joy Crawford. Joy is a native of Eufaula, a graduate of Eufaula High School and she attended Wallace Community College. She and her husband Tim have two Children. Joy previously worked as a bookkeeper and preschool teacher before coming to the Chamber of Commerce where her duties include guest services, retail merchandiser, as well as serving as Visitor Information Specialist.
Mitzi Clayton, Executive Director of Leadership Barbour
Mitzi Clayton, a native of Clayton, AL, is the Executive Director for Leadership Barbour and is responsible for coordinating the annual leadership program retreat, class days and day-to-day operations. Additionally, she is the Public Information Liaison for Eufaula City Schools where she is the direct media, public and community contact for the system.
Mrs. Clayton is a member of St. James’ Episcopal Church where she has served as youth director and a Christian formation teacher, Christ Child Circle where she has served as treasurer, and the Alabama School Communicators Association. Mrs. Clayton earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Finance and a Master in Business Administration from Troy University.
For the City of Eufaula, she has served on the planning commission, Census 2010 committee, as league president for coach pitch baseball and is a representative for Alabama Communities of Excellence. Previously, Mrs. Clayton served as a mortgage loan officer for BankTrust and manager of corporate communications for Aflac Incorporated.