Copperas Cove chamber names Oliver as interim president, hires new faces

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce has hired two new staff members and has selected a new interim president following the announcement of the departure of President/CEO Alicia Menard next week.

Ross Oliver has been selected as the Chamber’s new Interim President after Menard announced her resignation with her last day being April 14. 

Oliver has been on the chamber staff since October 2019, where he served as the Tourism and Communications Coordinator. After the chamber’s events coordinator Liz Sherman left in December 2020, Oliver took on the role of running the chamber events in addition to his tourism and communications duties.

He has a bachelor of science degree from Texas A&M University in Ag Leadership and Development, and worked at the state capitol for six years. He then worked for the Lampasas Chamber of Commerce from 2014 until 2016, then went back to work at the state capitol and ended up working as the Program Coordinator for Preservation Texas until 2019. 

Oliver is originally from Lampasas but has become a member of the Copperas Cove community. 

“I’ve gotten to know this Chamber and know the members of the community very well,” Oliver said. “I want the best for Copperas Cove, so I want to do whatever I can to help our members and our community.” 

Oliver said that one of his initiatives is to get out and meet all of the members, so they are familiar with him and with the two new faces joining him at the chamber this year. 

“We want our members to get the face to face because throughout the pandemic nobody had face to face, and we want them to feel like their membership is worth something, and they’re getting something out of it,” Oliver said. 

William McKeever is the new Membership Director for the chamber. McKeever is an alum of the University of Texas El Paso and has a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications. McKeever previously was the Communications Director for Vive Les Arts Theatre and previously worked as the director of content development for Isbell Realtors until a brief stint as the managing editor of the Belton Journal before joining the chamber of commerce staff. 

Allyanna Corcoran is the new Tourism, Communications and Events Coordinator for the Chamber. Corcoran has a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications from West Texas A&M University. 

Her main focus will be managing the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau’s social media accounts and utilizing her skills to revamp the chamber’s social media presence and the city’s tourism presence. As the Tourism, Communications and Events Coordinator, Corcoran will also be the person behind the Visitor Bureau side, visiting different businesses and Chamber members. 

Corcoran is also taking over as the person behind the scenes of the many events the chamber will be hosting, including Rabbit Fest, Krist Kindl Markt and the various races that the chamber holds. Corcoran will be the person to contact for anything related to these events. 

Oliver has an expectant attitude of what the three will be able to accomplish for the chamber and the business community.

“I will say I’m excited for the chamber because these two, they have a lot of drive and they’re taking initiatives themselves, and they’ve got a lot of great ideas that we’re going to put forth and try to do the best that we can starting with going out and meeting members and also a very strong presence on social media,” Oliver said. “I think with these two, we’re going to shine and make our members shine as well.”

McKeever said that he agreed that the team they created would be strong. 

“And we’re all coming in fresh, we’re all exactly new to our positions, so that’s the unique thing about this,” McKeever said. 

Oliver added that Menard is leaving behind big shoes to fill in the Chamber, but he said he felt prepared after working under Menard’s leadership. 

McKeever said that the Chamber will have to revamp as it adjusts and helps businesses adjust to life after COVID. 

“It’s not going to be the same as it was before COVID,” McKeever said. “Everything’s different, from the way people sell food to the way we do business. We have to figure out how to do that, how to change and adapt to post-COVID, and it’s going to be work but I think once we find the stride, we’re going to be successful.”

The Chamber of Commerce has resumed ribbon cuttings and its Coffee and Commerce mixer events. The Chamber will be hosting a ribbon cutting for Legacy Martial Arts tomorrow at 1 p.m. at their new Copperas Cove location in the Five Hills Shopping Center at 3010 E. Business 190.

For more information on the Chamber of Commerce, visit their website at www.copperascove.com.