The Harris County Chamber of Commerce board has unanimously approved Kimberly Tharp as president and CEO. Tharp has been serving as interim president and CEO since November 1. 

Tharp began her chamber career in 2002 at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce where she served as executive assistant to the president and CEO until 2015. She was hired as the office administrator of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce December 2015. She was the key staff person during the transition of CEOs in 2017.

”I love Harris County. I welcome the opportunity to continue to serve this county and this region in my new capacity as president and CEO”, said Tharp. “I have a tremendous passion for our chamber, its members, and its mission. My primary focus every day is to continue the success of the chamber to make Harris County and our region a better place to live, work, and play.”

Tharp is a native and resident of Harris County, having grown up in Fortson. She attended Mountain Hill School and graduated from Harris County High School. She has two children, Dakota and Katelyn. Dakota attended Harris County schools and Katelyn is currently a student at Creekside. 

“The Search Committee worked very hard to have a strong, transparent process for finding the right candidate,” said current Chamber Board Chairman, John Asbell of Georgia Power. “Kim stood out to our Search Committee, not only with her years of chamber experience, but we were impressed with her ability to continue operations of the chamber during the interim period. Kim’s reputation as a chamber professional in Harris County and beyond is stellar and we were impressed with her passion and vision for the Harris County Chamber of Commerce.”

The Chamber Search Committee presented Tharp as the final candidate on February 19th at its first Board meeting of the year.