A veteran of the Greater Washington Board of Trade will take the reins of the Greater Washington Initiative, the organization charged with marketing the region’s business community. Samuel A. Schreiber, regional president of Wachovia Greater Washington, was named chairman of the Greater Washington Initiative Tuesday.
Schreiber, whomost recently served as chairman for the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s board of directors, has been involved with the intertwined organizations for seven years. As the chairman of the Greater Washington Initiative, Schreiber will switch gears from a policy to a marketing focus, said Tim Priest, executive director of the Greater Washington Initiative.
“The Initiative is one of the few places where economic development officials, business leaders and elected officials come together,” Priest said. “The chair’s job is to help facilitate that collaboration, bring those groups together and make sure we agree on how we’re benefiting the region.”
Schreiber replaces William Couper, president, Bank of America Greater Washington. Couper is serving as chair-elect of the Board of Trade for 2007.
Schreiber’s previous experience will serve him well in his new role, he said.
“For me it’s a natural seque to step out of the role at the Board of Trade and focus on what I think is the most important public/private partnership in the region,” Schreiber said. “I’m very familiar with what [GWI does] … I look forward to working with everybody to have a very successful year in this role.”
The Board of Trade also confirmed new leadership for the Area Business Development Official Committee, which includes the heads of all economic development agencies in the regions. Kwasi Holman, president and CEO of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation, will serve as chairman of the organization and Terry Holzheimer, director of Arlington Economic Development, will serve as vice chairman.
