Dave Adkisson

About Dave Adkisson

Dave Adkisson retired from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in 2019 after nearly 15 years as president and CEO. During his tenure the Chamber was ranked the top lobbying organization in Kentucky, tripled its combined chamber and foundation budgets, doubled its staff and was named the 2017 State Chamber of the Year. In addition to achieving several landmark legislative victories for the business community, Adkisson championed the creation of the Kentucky Chamber Workforce Center and the Institute for School Principals, a program which invested more than $3 million in executive leadership training for school principals.During his career, Adkisson headed three chambers: his hometown chamber in Owensboro, KY; the metro Birmingham (AL) Chamber and the Kentucky (state) Chamber. He served as the 2010 chairman of the board of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), the 2014 chairman of the board of the Council of State Chambers (COSC), was a founder of the national State Chamber Policy Center, served on the board of the U. S. Chamber and served as the chairman of the U.S. Chamber’s education policy committee. Together, he spent more than 30 years in the chamber field. In 2021, Adkisson authored an Amazon bestseller,\"Horseshoes vs. Chess: A Practical Guide for Chamber of Commerce Leaders\". It has been distributed nationally by the national association of chambers of commerce (ACCE) and referred to as \"the industry bible\" for chamber professionals.At age 34, he was elected mayor of Owensboro, a city of and re-elected four years later without opposition. He championed the creation of the RiverPark (performing arts) Center on the Owensboro riverfront, the Mid-America (industrial) Airpark, a new four-lane bridge across the Ohio River to connect his community to I-64, a city-county workforce center, and the 13-mile-long Greenbelt Park which was later named in his honor. He was a co-founder of Leadership Kentucky and serves on the board of the Kentucky American Water Company. Originally from Owensboro, Adkisson received his B.A. from Georgetown College where he is a past chairman of the board of trustees, and his masters in ethics from Harvard University. He was the 2019 recipient of Leadership Kentucky’s “Flame of Excellence” award and in 2020, was chosen for ACCE’s Life Member Award.He and his wife Bonnie reside in Lexington, KY. They have two children, Dr. Kendra Faucett and Cyrus Adkisson, and three grandchildren.

Experience

1. Board Member

   Kentucky American Water

   Jul 2019 — Present · Lexington, KY, US

Education

• Georgetown College

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Philosophy

• Harvard University

  Master's degree, Ethics

  1973 — 1975

• Georgetown College

  Philosophy and Political Science

  1970 — 1973