A senior vice president of Bank of America in Roseville will ascend to the top leadership role in the Sacramento Metro Chamber next year.
Ashil Abhat, currently first vice chairman of the chamber board, said he wants to continue to enhance the chamber’s policy presence in a busy election year. Much of that work will occur through the chamber’s political action committee, Abhat said.
“The chamber continues to want to play a role in economic prosperity, and part of that is in electing pro-business candidates,” he said.
The organization plans to host at least one more mayoral forum for candidates Angelique Ashby and Darrell Steinberg, Abhat said.
Abhat replaces Christi Black-Davis as chair of the 77-member board. Black-Davis helped navigate the chamber through a leadership transition one year ago that created an entirely new team at the chamber, led by CEO Peter Tateishi.
Black-Davis, who is executive vice president at Edelman Public Relations, said she was most proud of the chamber’s efforts around this year’s minimum wage debate, and the building out of the organization’s small-business development centers.
“The chamber is in a really good place,” she said. In addition to local advocacy work, the organization had a solid year in lobbying for federal funding, particularly for flood-related infrastructure projects, Black-Davis said.
The chamber’s board has 80 seats. The 2017 chair will be Patricia “Trish” Rodriguez of Kaiser Permanente.
Abhat has the job title of senior vice president market executive for commercial banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He is also the former chairman of the Northern California World Trade Center.
Source: Sacramento Business Journal