State Chamber Holds Largest Annual Meeting Ever
Event includes awards, new Board chairman and New York Times Best-Selling Author Ori Brafman
Oklahoma City (June 23, 2015) – Today, more than 500 people attended the State Chamber of Oklahoma’s Annual Meeting at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The meeting featured the installment of a new Chairman of the State Chamber Board of Directors, presentation of the inaugural Champion of Free Enterprise Awards and a keynote address from New York Times Best-Selling Author Ori Brafman.
Brafman, author of The Chaos Imperative and The Starfish and the Spider, told attendees about the importance of innovation and fostering change from within your company or organization. As he put it, “What you are doing is not just changing your industry, but changing the state.” He gave examples of businesses and civilizations that suffered the consequences of not recognizing when a 
significant change was happening and failed to take advantage of it.
The new Chairman of the State Chamber Board is Bradley W. Krieger, Executive Vice President and Regional Manager for Oklahoma and Kansas at Arvest Bank. Krieger takes over from Chuck Mills, President and CEO of Mills Machine Company in Shawnee. In his first address to members as Chairman, Krieger talked about the importance of avoiding complacency when it comes to involvement in business policy and legislation. He urged attendees to talk with their elected officials about unnecessary regulations and other concerns that affect their business.
The Annual Meeting also included the presentation of the inaugural Champion of Free Enterprise Awards to State Chamber members who went above and beyond to fight for policies that improve Oklahoma’s business climate. The awards given were:
- Chamber of the Year Award – Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, for participating in our Key Legislative Principles program and informing its members about important issues at the state Capitol.
- Ambassador of the Year Award – Lundy Kiger, AES Shady Point, for promoting the State Chamber’s message to area and industry peers while assisting in recruitment of new members.
- Chairman’s Award – Eddie Miller, Bios Company, for his efforts in supporting our mission and vision of making Oklahoma the first choice for business.
- Outstanding Individual Award – Steve Hendrickson, Boeing, for working tirelessly to advance State Chamber priorities at the state Capitol, including areas not specifically targeted towards his company or industry.
- Outstanding Company Award – Unit Drilling, for supporting the State Chamber’s legislative agenda in areas that affect its industry and the state’s business climate in general.
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