Two Honored as 2022 Life Members

ACCE is pleased to announce two recipients of the Life Member Award: Phil Parker, CCE, IOM, CAE (Ret.) and Perry Webb, CCE, IOM.

ACCE bestows this pinnacle award on those who retire after stellar careers in chamber leadership. Join us in honoring Phil and Perry's enduring influence and a lifetime of service to the chamber profession when we celebrate this recognition at the ACCE Convention in Indy.

Phil Parker, CCE, IOM, CAE (Ret.) 

Phillip L. Parker is the former President and CEO of the regional Dayton (OH) Area Chamber of Commerce. Before joining the chamber organization, Phil was Executive Director of the Home Builders Association of Dayton and the Miami Valley. He has obtained an extensive background in working with trade associations and businesses of all sizes in the Miami Valley region as a champion for the free enterprise system during his professional career. 

Phil received a B.A. degree in Political Science from Florida Atlantic University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Dayton. He holds the professional designation of Certified Association Executive (CAE) from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). Phil graduated in 1997 from the United States Chamber's Institutes for Organization Management and the Center for Creative Leadership in 2000. Professionally, he is an active member of ASAE, and is a past President of the Dayton Society of ASAE. Phil is a past member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Ohio (CCEO) where he served as its President in 2001-02, the ACCE Board Treasurer, and a past member of the U.S Department of Commerce Southern Ohio District Export Council (SODEC). He was named a Ford Foundation Fellow in 2009. 

As the recently retired President of the 113-year-old Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, for over 26 years, Phil oversaw one of the 25 largest chambers of commerce in the nation. Over the last 20 years, this metropolitan business organization has exceeded the requirements for national accreditation with its highest honor of five stars by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and has additionally been honored for its entrepreneurial spirit by The Newcomen Society of the United States, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurial Supporter of the Year Award and the Better Business Bureau's Integrity Eclipse Award. The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives also honored the Chamber in 1998-99 as the Chamber of the Year.

Phil has been actively involved as a local, regional, state and national volunteer, averaging more than 500 volunteer service hours a year over nearly 46 years. Just one of his many accolades, he was named to the Dayton Business Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2020, he was named the (Congressman) Dave Hobson Dayton Region Advocate Award recipient by the Dayton Development Coalition. 

Phil and his wife Donna, who have two children, Natasha (Mark) and Matthew, and three granddaughters, Chloe, Kennedy and Violet, live in Beavercreek, Ohio, where their grandchildren are sixth-generation Beavercreek residents. Donna is a retired teacher in the Beavercreek school system and an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton. Phil is a lifelong outdoorsman, an active fisherman and hunter, and enjoys muscle cars, old motorcycles, and oldies rock & roll music. He is an active member of the Kettering Seventh Day Adventist Church and serves on the church's Good Neighbor House Board of Trustees. 

Perry Webb, CCE, IOM 

Perry Webb served as president and CEO of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce from October 1, 1994, to the end of 2020.

As the son of a Baptist minister and a lifelong resident of the state of Arkansas, Perry Webb has lived in virtually every region of his home state. Athletics, law enforcement and economic development have all played integral roles in shaping his life. A native of Walnut Ridge, Ark., Webb earned his associate degree from Williams Baptist College in 1977.  He majored in Business Administration at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, finishing in 1982. Webb then spent almost five years in law enforcement, serving as a deputy sheriff of Lawrence County, Ark.  Beginning in 1987, he began a career leading chambers of commerce from one corner of Arkansas to the other.

As the executive director of the Walnut Ridge and Forrest City Chambers of Commerce and in his position as president and chief executive officer of the Springdale Chamber, Webb has worked in all facets of the business sector - from tourism, community and economic development to advertising, marketing and promotion.  He received his CCE designation in 2004 from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.  He also was appointed by Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to serve on the Information Network of Arkansas' Board of Directors. 

Perry was named the Economic Developer of the Year in 2015 by the Arkansas Economic Developers for his leadership role in securing legislative and voter approval in what would become Act 97, called by many the most important economic development legislation in the State’s history. 

He is a past board chairman of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organizational Management's Board of Trustees.  Previously he served two years as the chairman of the Curriculum Review Committee and served as an Institute faculty member for more than a decade.  He has been involved in the Institute Program since 1987, previously serving on the Board of Regents of the SMU Institute in Dallas. Perry has also served on the Board of Directors for the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.  He served a two-year stint as chairman of ACCE’s Image Task Force, an aggressive program to elevate the perception of all Chambers. 

As an avocation, he found time to serve as a basketball and football official for more than 25 years. During that time, he officiated more than 3,000 basketball games and more than 400 football games. Starting in 1987, Webb also officiated NCAA Division I basketball, working more than 250 games at the sport's highest level.  Though retired from active officiating since 2001, he's remained involved in the support and education of the refereeing profession.  He is a 2006 inductee into the Arkansas Officiating Hall of Fame.

 Perry and his wife, Rebecca, have three adult children, Amanda, Sarah and Bartley and are the proud grandparents of six boys.