Lauderdale Lakes, FL – At its annual general meeting and business card exchange which was held on Wednesday, November 16, the Greater Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. “GCACC” elected its Officers and Directors for the 2006 calendar year.
The meeting, which was chaired by President Tanya N. Ragbeer began with a presentation from special guest Bill Kyriakakis, Commercial/Industrial Development Manager of the Broward County Office of Economic Development, who spoke about disaster relief funding available to businesses affected by Hurricane Wilma.
After a well-received presentation, the nominees for the 2006 Officers and Directors were presented to the membership. Each nominee was given the opportunity to address the gathering before the ballots were cast.
In an overwhelming vote, all of the 2005 Executive officers were returned to office for a second term, while the Board had several new members that were elected to serve for the 2006 calendar year. The new Officers and Directors are slated to be sworn in on January 21, 2006 at the annual Installation of Officers Banquet.
The meeting concluded with the welcoming of new members and renewed members who were presented with Plaques and pins bearing their names and business affiliations. This was a new move by the GCACC, which deemed this as an added value to its membership.
The Executive Officers elected for the new year are:
President – Tanya N. Ragbeer, Senior Financial Center Manager and Vice President, BankUnited
Vice President – Andrew Azebeokhai, Senior Vice President, Community Redevelopment Associates
Treasurer – Anthea Issacs, President, Penzaac Corporation of America
Secretary – Linda Creary, Stock Broker, Spencer Winston Securities
Parliamentarian – Albert Lettman, President, Island Art & Custom Framing
Public Relations Director – Lynore Clarke, President, Caribbean Vibes, Marketing & Advertising
Sergeant at Arms – Tamar Turpin, PR Specialist
Board Members at Large are, Gary Harris, Triology Productions; Lascelles Patterson, Eagle Realty Services Inc.; Clinton Taylor, Wachovia Bank; Marvin Dejean, Minority Development & Empowerment, and Island TV; Lorna Wright, Communication Consultant; Dr. Brett Weintraub, Pearle Vision; and Maxine Tulloch, APM Consultants.
Legal Council is Pam Gordon, Attorney at Law.
Advisory Board Members are, Michael Aitcheson, M.A. Aitcheson & Associates, and Island Beat Marketing; Commissioner Hazelle Rogers, City of Lauderdale Lakes, and Attorneys Realty Title; Commissioner Dale Holness, City of Lauderhill, and ERA All Broward Realty & Mortgage; Babacar M’Bow, Broward County Libraries Division; and Dr. J. Arenas-Chico, North Broward Hospital District.
Honorary Board Members are CARICOM Consuls General: Hon. Ian Sweeney, Bahamas; Hon. Alma Adams, Bahamas; Hon. Edward Bushell, Barbados; Hon. Stephanie Sylvestre, Belize; Hon. Javier Gonzalez, Dominican Republic; Hon. Ramzan Roshanali, Guyana; Hon. Richard Allan Nixon, Grenada; Hon. Ralph Latortue, Haiti; Hon. Ricardo Allicock, Jamaica; Hob. Rudy Delaguardia, Panama; Hon. Kent Hippolyte, St. Lucia; Hon. Sunil Sitaldin, and Suriname; Hon. Kirk Francois, Trinidad & Tobago.
Founding Member is Eric Hammond, Hammond & Associates Inc.
