After 20 Years at Newport County Chamber, Jody Sullivan is Retiring

Jody Sullivan is retiring from the Newport County Chamber of Commerce.

Sullivan, who first started working for the chamber in 1994, was appointed executive director in 2010.

“To lead the Newport County Chamber these past five years has been an incredible and humbling experience. The confidence the Board has placed in me and the support they have provided has meant more to me than words can express,” Sullivan said in a statement. “It has been truly inspiring to work with such a fantastic staff and so many dedicated members and volunteers. I am totally committed moving forward to finding a new Executive Director who will continue to lead and steward this great organization on behalf of our members and the business community.”

A search committee to find Sullivan’s successor has been formed. It is comprised of chamber board members and anyone interested in additional information can send an email to search@newportchamber.com.

Board members credited Sullivan with leading the chamber to accomplish numerous successful projects.

Scott Humphrey, chairman of the board, said Sullivan “has been a tremendous leader and asset to the organization.”

“The Newport County Chamber of Commerce motto ’All Chamber All The Time’ is a motto that Jody has lived every day since becoming our Executive Director in 2010,” Humphrey said. “Through her dedicated leadership the Chamber has been able to accomplish many successful projects that have directly benefited our membership and Newport County as a whole. On behalf of the Newport County Chamber Board of Directors I wish Jody much success in her future endeavors.”

Before her appointment to the position of executive director, Sullivan served as interim director for a year after her predecessor, Keith Stokes, was picked by then-Governor Lincoln Chafee to lead the then-Economic Development Corporation — now CommerceRI.

Sullivan started working with the Newport County Chamber of Commerce in 1994 and stepped into the role of deputy director in 2003. She has owned and operated several small businesses and received a Masters Degree in Management from Salve Regina University in 2003.

At the time of her 2010 appointment to lead the chamber, chamber officials credited her with the development of successful initiatives and programs such as the Chamber’s “Buy Local” campaign, its member-to-member discount and gift certificate programs, and its corporate sponsorship program.