Meet the chamber's new board members
Five new board members will be introduced to the membership and officially installed at the Chamber's Annual Meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday, January 19th, at Harbor Springs City Hall. Here's a little background on our new directors:
Rebecca Adams is the owner and stylist at Admired In Harbor, located at 930 State Street, Suite 19. She has lived in Harbor Springs since 1985. Rebecca says she is “grateful and excited to serve this community and to give back” as a chamber board member. “I love Harbor Springs. This town and its people helped raise me and support me all of these years. My business is located ‘up town’ and I would like to represent that part of the community and I feel having a retail and service business will be an asset to the board.”
Rebecca is ministry manager at her local church. She has been married to her husband Scott for 28 years. They recently moved to his childhood home in Petoskey. They have two daughters - the oldest lives north of Detroit and is a graduate of Ferris State and the youngest will graduate from NMU in the spring and will be heading to California.
Barbara Boonstra was named executive director of Perry Farm Village one year ago this week. “I was looking for a way to become more involved in the community and felt that being part of the chamber I could serve those who live, work, own and visit Harbor Springs,” she said. “ I have found that being a Chamber Member has increased my awareness of other local businesses, given me the opportunity to meet so many others and kept me informed of current events and activities.”
On the brink of its 20th anniversary, Perry Farm Village is readying to open The Birches, a 20-unit Assisted Living and Memory Care community. Earlier in her career Barbara served in various nursing and other clinical positions including hospital, medical offices, senior living and long-term care settings. She is credentialed as a certified director of assisted living, a certified dementia practitioner and as a licensed practical nurse. Barbara has also mentored many professionals and is focused on resident needs, enhanced staff teamwork and customer satisfaction. Barbara and her husband Jim share close multi-generational connections to the Harbor Springs area and are active in the community.
Douglas R. Brown is owner and photographer of D R Brown Photography LLC, which specializes in architecture and interior design photography. He and his wife Debbie started their photography company after retiring from their previous careers. Doug says “The Harbor Springs chamber has been a vital part of the success we are seeing. We have been able to meet many of our new clients (and new friends) through the chamber.”
“I have always been heavily involved in the industry I served through board membership of the industry associations, “ he said. “I look forward to bringing those experiences and more than 42 years of work experience to help support the businesses of the Harbor Springs Chamber. I want to help maintain the energetic business climate of Harbor Springs so that the businesses in our community are successful.”
Doug was born and raised in Pennsylvania, where he received a degree in electrical engineering from Penn State; then lived and worked in eastern Ohio where he got his professional engineer’s license and an MBA from Kent State University. He moved to Tokyo, Japan for four years to run the Asian operations of the company he worked for, then moved to the Detroit area in 1993, serving as president of various divisions of his company for the last 20 years of his career. In his spare time, Doug enjoys photography, golfing, walking/hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and computers.
Ellie Joles, the new Community Development Coordinator for both Odawa Casino locations, is a woman of many talents. Outside of work her main passion is teaching young children about horses. She has three horses of her own: Scooter, Dexter, and Thomas. During her free time, if she's not in the horse barn, you can find her at the gym, skiing, or outdoors just enjoying beautiful Northern Michigan. Joles is excited to take on this role at Odawa, as she loves being involved in the community. She's looking forward to maintaining current relationships with other local organizations and is always striving to create an even more connected community. If you're looking for a contact for community events, Ellie is your girl. You can reach her at (231) 439-6100 or by email at [email protected].
Elaine Keiser runs her own architectural design firm at 2076 M-119, between Harbor Springs and Petoskey. A business owner since 2000, she earned a Master of Architecture degree from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield. Elaine Keiser Architect offers in-house support staff and integrated services of civil, landscape, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, structural and interior design. Elaine is licensed in Michigan and six other states.
“From a very young age, I loved drawing, creating and constructing - especially spaces,” Elaine said. “ I am passionate about my work and have never considered it to be ‘just a job.’ I believe this shines through in the commitment I make to every design decision and detail.” She is a mother of four and married to Andy Keiser.
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