Hanner named new Colleyville Area Chamber president

Living in Kentucky, Connie Hanner missed spending quality time with her daughter and two grandchildren who live in Hurst.

Visiting on Skype and Facebook were no substitute for holding 2-year-old Dylan and 5-year-old Reagan and reading bedtime stories to them.

So she made an impulsive decision to move to North Texas and be a nearby “nana.”

Hanner asked her daughter Lauren Burkee where she might start looking for a job and Lauren told her nearby Colleyville was a nice place.

So Hanner went on the Internet to the city’s website and started scouting jobs.

She saw a job for the chamber president, saying, “There it sat just as big as life.”

Hanner sent in her application.

“Here I sit 90 days later as the new president of the Colleyville Area Chamber of Commerce,” said Hanner, 55. “It worked out very well.”

Hanner started last Thursday and is thrilled with how welcoming everyone has been, and praised the extraordinary IT department that made her transition seamless.

“Colleyville is great,” the grandmother of two said.

Tom Smith, 2015 Colleyville Area Chamber board chairman, lauded their choice, saying, “Connie brings a wealth of experience in leading non-profit organizations throughout the country. She is eager to meet and get to know our members and the community.”

The chamber president’s job was left vacant when chamber president Brendon Payne died March 2. He was 47.

Payne,who was elected president in December, had a heart attack on March 1. He went into emergency surgery, but died the next morning.

“Brendon Payne was just what the Colleyville Chamber needed,” Marty Wieder, Colleyville’s economic development director said in an email in March. “Brendon made it clear that he wanted the chamber to work closely with the city and that’s exactly what he did.”

Before joining the chamber, Hanner served as president of the Mankato (Minnesota) Area United Way. She focused on fundraising initiatives for the three county region supporting 40 different agencies. Her work included working closely with local chambers of commerce, FDIC and banking groups.

Prior to that, she served as executive director of the Rhode Island — Providence Habitat for Humanity, leading fundraising and home building efforts with a staff of eight and a group of 40 volunteer builders. Additionally, she served as executive director of the Graves County Habitat for Humanity based in Mayfield, Ken.

Earlier in her career, Hanner was news director for Withers Broadcasting in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where for five years she managed the content and delivery of news for several radio stations and served as the public affairs director. She specialized in getting community leaders involved in public service and media events.

Hanner earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Murray State University in Kentucky, specializing in non-profit organizational leadership. She is working on her Ph.D. from Johnson University in Knoxville, Tenn., in non-profit organizational leadership.

She is an accomplished public speaker and is completing her Certified Non-Profit Professional credential.

She plans to use those skills “to promote the efforts of chamber members” and focus also on economic development.

Hanner has relocated to the area and lives “a stone’s throw” from her grandchildren.

“Now I get to give them hugs and kisses at bedtime,” the chamber president said.

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Hanner named new Colleyville Area Chamber president."