- April 26, 2024
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The Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce starts a new era in 2017 with Debbie Cotton as the new president and CEO, a paid position; and Rafael Ramirez elected as chairman of the board.
Cotton was hired last October after a nationwide search to replace Rick Fraser, who had announced his retirement. A South Daytona resident, she was working as vice president and chief operating officer of Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Cotton’s professional chamber experience was attractive to the Ormond Beach search committee. She is on the board of directors of Florida Association of Chamber Professionals and recently became chair-elect. She is currently in her second year in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute of Organizational Management, a four-year leadership program.
In 2017, she said the Ormond Beach chamber will be “working diligently” to upgrade technology to support members. Last year, a fundraising campaign was held and now it’s time for implementation, she said. The website will be enhanced as well as equipment that is available at the chamber to members.
Cotton says one of the best parts of working at a chamber is hearing about members doing business with each other.
“That’s what warms by heart,” she said. “That’s what makes me passionate.”
Cotton says a healthy business community is good for all citizens, because it provides a tax base to help provide services and boost quality of life.
Originally from North Carolina, Cotton, 54, was raised in Orange City. She studied for two years at Daytona Beach Community College (now Daytona State University) and later attained a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Warner University in Lake Wales.
She was a manager and buyer for a bridal shop for 13 years in Tennessee and helped start a bridal shop in Winter Park. She has also worked in marketing for a credit union in Orlando.
She said her work experience has taught her the importance of customer service and working with other businesses.
“The biggest part of a chamber is developing relationships,” she said.
Cotton started as receptionist at the Seminole County chamber and advanced to president and CEO, saying she did every job at the chamber in her time there.
She is happy to be back in Volusia County, which she considers home. She said there is a difference between Seminole County, which is just outside Orlando, and Ormond Beach.
“It’s a family here,” she said. “Businesses are so supportive of each other and it’s a little more easy going.”
Rafael Ramirez
The new chairman of the board will be Rafael Ramirez, who has been a member of the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce since 1990. He has served in capacities including treasury secretary and president and this is his second stint as chairman, having served in 1995.
Originally from Puerto Rico, Ramirez, 60, moved to New Orleans after graduating high school. He attended Loyola University, where he earned a degree in business administration with a major in finance and then a Master of Business Administration.
Ramirez said he and his wife discovered Ormond Beach after her family moved to the state from Chicago. They had started to raise a family and found the city to have great schools, as well as being a great place to live, Ramirez said.
Ramirez said his biggest goal as chairman of the chamber is to help the new president and CEO, Debbie Cotton, have a smooth transition in her first year and bring “her own culture” to the chamber.
He wants to maintain the relevancy of the chamber and help members grow.
Adding a couple of committees is also on his list for 2017. He would like to see a finance audit committee for the chamber and a government affairs committee to advocate for the business community.
A more long-range goal is to get national certification for the chamber, which could take two or three years. Ramirez said Cotton has a lot of professional chamber of commerce experience, and the Seminole Chamber, which she headed, has the certification. Certification would provide more benefits to chamber members.
“Businesses are so supportive of each other.”
DEBBIE COTTON, Chamber of Commerce president and CEO
Ramirez has lived in Ormond Beach since moving here in 1987. He began as a loan officer at Ormond-by-the-Sea bank, while his wife worked at American Pioneer Savings and Loan. He later was president and CEO of Community Bank which was sold to Bank First.
In 2013, he was recruited by Halifax Health to work in marketing development in the Deltona area.
Ramirez has always been active in the community and serves on nearly a dozen boards, including Council on Aging, YMCA and Boys and Girls Club.
He said his favorite is the Budget Advisory Board for the city of Ormond Beach, saying the city has kept the property tax millage low while maintaining a high quality of life.
