Biography provided by participant
R. Marc Jordan was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce in North Myrtle Beach, SC in December of 2007. His official start date with the Chamber was Jordanh 3, 2008. Jordan came to North Myrtle Beach from Lynchburg, VA where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Central Virginia for two and a half years. Prior to his tenure with the United Way, Jordan served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce, a position he held for the prior ten years. This capped a 33-year career serving in leadership positions with local Chambers of Commerce including Raleigh, N.C., Norfolk, VA, Rocky Mount, NC, and beginning with the Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce.
In reflecting on Jordan's 35 years and counting chamber career, it could best be summed up from his personal statement that he created in 1983: "The Chamber of Commerce has a tremendous responsibility in protecting, enhancing, and ultimately projecting a positive image of the business community on local, state and national levels. This can best be accomplished through marshalling corporate resources toward the planning and implementing of relative, substantive programs. I will consider my contributions partially successful upon receiving the respect and confidence of first the volunteer leadership of the community and then that of my peers and contemporaries in the chamber profession. As the Chief Executive I shall provide leadership by: discerning the essential from the non-essential; capitalizing on the strengths of the leadership; and in actively assuring that the organization's mission is recognized and supported by adequate resources."
Jordan has called upon this statement frequently as he led in Norfolk the dissolution of five Chambers of Commerce including Norfolk, Va. Beach. Portsmouth, Chesapeake, & Suffolk, and the creation of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce which serves that region today; as well as leading the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce for a decade during the explosion of the Research Triangle Park and Raleigh's attainment as the "Best Place to Work and Live in America", and the creation of the Raleigh-Durham Regional Association; and his work in Memphis, which resulted in an economic development initiative which produced $1billion in new capital investments annually for 8 years in a row, along with a major increase in the areas per capita income and the creation of the Memphis Regional Collaborative out of the findings of the Governor's Conference on Regionalism, a joint 3-state initiative involving Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
"Building communities today is a world apart from the experiences of my earliest year's, and that's why I'm not quite ready to quit and why living and working in a smaller community today provides such a challenging and exciting opportunity. We never stop learning." commented Jordan on his move to North Myrtle Beach, S.C. to assume the leadership of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Jordan is a graduate of Lynchburg College with his wife Vicki, and prior to his chamber career he worked in Admissions and Development for Lynchburg College. He also served six years in the Marine Corps Reserves. Jordan has held numerous leadership positions throughout his career including serving as the Chairman of the Metro Cities Council and Chair-Elect for the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Association, a professional association representing Chamber of Commerce professionals throughout the country. He relinquished his pending Chairman's position after he and his wife decided to return to Lynchburg, a place they considered more like home than either of their birthplaces. Jordan has also been recognized by his peers as Chamber Executive of the Year in both North Carolina and Virginia and has served as President of his state associations in each state he has resided. He is also a past President of the Lynchburg College Alumni Association and recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award and the Carey Brewer Alumni Award for outstanding accomplishments.
While in Memphis, TN he was recognized seven years in a row by Memphis Magazine as one of Memphis' Top 100 "movers and shakers". Jordan has served on numerous local and national boards but is particularly passionate about volunteering his time to the American Heart Association and the United Network of Organ Sharing. He is a past Chairman of the Heartwalk in Memphis as well as the county-wide Heart Association. He has also participated in the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Transplant Games.
In August of 2006, Jordan was presented the Life Member Award from the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the highest award bestowed by the professional Chamber Executives' association, for Jordan's leadership and contributions as a chamber professional over his 33-year chamber career (at that time).
Jordan and his wife Vicki have three children: Ryann, a Presbyterian College graduate, married and living in Greenville, SC., where her husband recently took a job as the Associate Pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church, teaches pre-school children; and twins, Paige and Jordanus. Paige graduated in May from Queens University, in Charlotte, NC works as an Admissions Counselor for Queens College. Jordanus also graduated in May from Lynchburg College and has relocated to North Myrtle Beach.
In addition to the ACCE board, Jordan currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Horry County, the Board of Directors of the Carolina's Association of Chamber of Commerce Executive's, and the Executive Committee of the Waccamaw-Area Heart Walk.
