Jim G. Vaughan, CCE, Named 2021 Life Member Honoree

ACCE is pleased to announce James G. (Jim) Vaughan, CCE, as this year's recipient of the Life Member Award.

This pinnacle award is bestowed by ACCE on those who retire after stellar careers in chamber leadership. Join us in honoring Jim's enduring influence and lifetime of service to the chamber profession when we celebrate his recognition on Tuesday, July 20 at the ACCE annual meeting during the Chamber Innovation Summit.

Jim's more than 45-year career included serving as staff executive or CEO of chambers in South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Texas. He was also a fundraising and strategic planning consultant to more than 50 chambers, economic development organizations and cities. Following an eight-year run as CEO of the Greater Waco Chamber in Texas, Jim retired from active chamber management in 2012 and joined Market Street Services as a Senior Fellow.

Jim started his chamber career in 1970 in Greenville, S.C., where he served on the staff of chamber legend Jerry Bartels, CCE, for six years. As public relations and public affairs director, Jim’s work as a chamber communications professional was nationally acclaimed.

As CEO of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Chamber in the 1980s, Jim was an advocate for public private partnerships that led to $40 million of riverfront retail development downtown. He initiated a five-county economic development marketing program including the “First Coast” regional branding, now in its 38th year. And he brought chamber leaders and the city officials together to address Jacksonville’s odor problem that was hindering growth in the headquarters, healthcare and sports sectors.

During his 12 years as CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber (1982-83 and 1987-1998), Jim helped build business support for the sustainable city strategy that has led the city to be recognized as one of the nation’s most livable cities. He convened and moderated regular meetings of Chattanooga's association executives to craft a common vision for where they were headed and the language they would all use about getting there. He also established the Chattanooga News Bureau to capitalize on the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium and riverfront and downtown development. As a result, Chattanooga became one of the nation’s most visited and most written about cities on topics of sustainability.

After Chattanooga, Jim became an associate of Jerry Bartels and Neil Mabry at Fremont Development Group, where he developed and managed the structure for a successful national consulting practice, raising $74.7 million for annual operations and economic development for 36 chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.

His association with so many chamber executives through Fremont led Jim to aspire to another chamber leadership position, this time in the thriving Texas Triangle. His goal when arriving in Waco in 2004 was to serve a single four-year term and then to retire. His success and acceptance in Waco led him to re-up for another four years.

Early in his tenure in Waco, Jim retained Market Street Services to help the chamber create a five-year strategy for economic and community development. The plan brought new credibility to the Greater Waco Chamber and became the playbook for raising $7.3 million to implement the strategy and construct new facilities for the chamber. During his incumbency, the chamber’s economic development team attracted 20 new companies and assisted 40 expansions by existing firms resulting in 5,314 new jobs and 3,190 jobs retained and $740 million in capital investments.

Today, the chamber serves the Greater Waco community and its members from the “First Green Chamber Building in America.” The building was designed and constructed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards of the U.S. Green Building Council and was the first LEED-Gold certified building in Central Texas.

In his final consulting assignment at Market Street Services in 2020, Jim led the team that crafted an ambitious strategy and implementation plan for the City of Las Cruces, N.M., to attract jobs and development to its international airport and industrial park.

Jim served three terms as a director of ACCE and was chairman of ACCE’s Communications Council in 1978-79. He completed the Institute for Organization Management program at the University of Delaware in 1976.

Jim and his wife Patty, who celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in 2019, reside in Santa Fe, N.M. He currently serves as president of Friends of the Wheelwright, a volunteer support group of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe. At the Church of the Holy Faith (Episcopal) in Santa Fe, he is an usher and a member of the communications committee.