The largest Leadership Columbia County class finished its 10-month program on May 12 with a graduation ceremony at Savannah Rapids Pavilion.

The program is designed to expose business and community leaders to the opportunities and challenges facing our community while honing their leadership skills. The 10-month program features day-long sessions that cover various topics such as law enforcement, healthcare, education and workforce, economic development, history of the county, cultural diversity and the military.

The Chamber’s Youth Leadership Program ended April 16 with a graduation ceremony. The program is designed to educate through experience and motivate young leaders and enable them to take an active role in their community.  The goal is to develop strong leaders who have hope for the future and the tools to influence a positive and progressive community.

Participants must be sophomores or juniors in Columbia County high schools or residents of Columbia County. They are selected after consideration of their recognized and potential leadership and the merit of their application. 

The upcoming adult and Youth Leadership classes have been selected and will begin their programs in August. The members of those classes will be announced later.

Leadership Columbia County Class of 2015 members are:  Will Badger, Robbie Bennett, Dorothy Brandon, Lemuel Brooks, Tracy Bryant, Will Butler, Jessica Cain, Troy Clark, Bonnie Cox, Maria Darley, Linda Diebel, Margaret Doss, Dale Dye, Alyson Getchell, Michael Gilles, Brandon Harper, Nichole Hayes, Bo Horton, Brian King, Will Lanier, Leila Lawson, Kelly McCauley, Eric McIntyre, Brett Miller, Carey Miller, Jennifer Miller, Teri Mobley, Mitchell Murchison, Katie Newton, Daniel Pharr, Jonothan Powell, Ben Tankersley, Margaret Taylor and Jeremy Young.

The members of the Youth Leadership Class of 2015 are: A.J. Allen, Casey Andrews, Cameron Barton, Rod Bayliss, Bailey Booth, David Brannon, Meghan Dixon, James Dorsey, Madelyn Echols, Jayda Felder, Isabel Flanagan, Pooja Gohel, Kenne Hillis, Nick Iseman, Diane Kelement, Jake Knight, Samantha Newman, Carly Pence, Karson Pennington, Olivia Pennoyer, Evan Read, Alex Schwan, Darasha Singleton, Jordan Smalley, Michael Sostre, Tiffany Ujjin, Justin VanEssendelft and Grace Welsh.