Chamber News from the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Saunier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been employed by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce since September of 1980 when he became the president of the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. He took over as executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival in September of 1994. He was promoted to executive vice president of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce mid-2000 and president & CEO of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce effective January 1, 2001.

Locally, he serves on numerous community boards, which including Central Catholic High School Advisory Board, secretary of the board of directors for the Downtown Canton Land Bank, secretary of ArtsinStark, board of directors for Canton Tomorrow Inc., board of directors Downtown Canton Special Improvement District, P-16 Compact, United Way of Greater Stark County and the board of directors and executive committee of the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.

Recently he has served on the Stark State College of Technology Advisory Committee, and is past chairman of the Akron/Canton Regional Foodbank Harvest for Hunger and past president of the Rotary Club of Canton. He and his wife, Patty, reside in Plain Township and have three children.

Katz graduated from Kent State University with a master’s degree in public administration. He is a member of the Stark Labor Management Council, and sits on the board of Employment Source, Canton Community Improvement Corporation and the Stark Development Board Finance Corporation. He and his wife, Karyn, have two children, Elizabeth and Eric.

Michael P. Gill is the retired district president of Key Bank. His banking career spans 34 years with Harter Bank, Society Bank and Key Bank. Mike earned his Bachelor of Arts in business administration in 1967 at Ohio Northern University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. Presently, he is the director of the Canton Development Partnership, a division of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, which manages the activities of Canton Tomorrow Inc., Downtown Canton Land Bank and the Downtown Canton Special Improvement District.

Active in the community, Mike is the former chairman of the board of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Stark Development Board, Cultural Center for the Arts, United Way of Central Stark County and Leadership Stark County. In addition, he was past general chairman of the 1988 Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival, 1992 campaign chairman of the United Arts Fund Drive, chairman of the 1994 United Way of Central Stark County Campaign and 1996 campaign chairman of the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges for Stark/Tusc. Counties. Presently, he is chairman of the Stark County Port Authority. He remains a board member of Mercy Medical Center, Stark Development Board, and the United Way of Greater Stark County.

David Kaminski joined the staff of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce in June 2008. At the Chamber, he is director of education and government affairs. His primary responsibilities involve managing the Chamber’s various education projects in the community. Prior to joining the Chamber, Kaminski was operating a research and consulting business that he had formed after his retirement from The Repository in May 2007. He spent 33 years at the newspaper, the last 10 as its editor. He came to Canton and The Repository immediately following his graduation from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in English. He is a native of South Bend, Ind.

He serves on the board of United Way of Greater Stark County and the Canton Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross. He has been a member of the Neighborhood Partnership Grants Program committee at the Stark Community Foundation, and a member of the Community Services of Stark County board and the Players Guild board. Kaminski and his wife, Anne, have raised four children in Canton. They are members of St. John Catholic Church.

John Kiste joined the Canton/Stark County Convention & Visitors’ Bureau in 1999 as the convention sales and communications manager and became executive director in December 2001. Kiste is a native of Massillon and a graduate of Malone College and Kent State University. He also attended Yale and Akron U., and has taught business, mathematics, and purchasing courses at a Kent State branch.

He is the past president of the Ohio Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor and strategic planning chair for the Ohio Association of Convention & Visitors’ Bureaus. He serves on the advisory committees of the MAPS Air Museum and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, and on the marketing committee of the Ohio & Erie Canalway as well as the board of the Wagner Society of Ohio. He is also the secretary/treasurer for the Stark County Chambers of Commerce Association and is a graduate of the 20th class of Leadership Stark County. He and his wife Lonna and daughter Gwendolyn own a wholesale alternative clothing line which originally had a holiday retail outlet in Alliance.

Joanne K. Murray, a native of Canton, Ohio, graduated from the former Lehman High School, and attended Kent State University Stark. She served as administrative assistant to the Mayor of Canton for 15 years, followed by a six-year stint in commercial real estate. During those years, she volunteered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival, chairing the Fashion Show Luncheon and Appreciation Party Committees. Her experience led to the opportunity to join the staff of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce in 1991 as marketing coordinator for its Enshrinement Festival department. She became assistant director in 1996, and director in 2000.

As director, she is responsible for oversight of a staff of seven and team of more than 4,200 community volunteers, with an operating budget of approximately $2.4 million that is utilized to plan and stage 15 diverse events over a ten-day period, enjoyed by nearly 700,000 people.

Murray is a graduate of the U. S. Chamber Institutes of Organization Management, having completed all six sessions at the University of Oklahoma. She has been a member of the Canton Civil Service Commission since 1992, and is council secretary at Martin Luther Lutheran Church.

Fran Wells was born in Pittsburgh Pa., and spent most of her youth in West Lafayette, Indiana. An honors graduate from Indiana University’s School of Education, Wells taught at the elementary school level for five years. In 1979, Wells and her husband, Dr. P.J. Wells, moved to Canton when her husband established a Dentistry practice in the Canton South area. Wells served as an instructor substitute for the Stark County Board of Mental Retardation for 12 years, followed by seven years as a Learning Resource Specialist at Canton Country Day School.

While her two children were in school, she was an active volunteer for Plain Local Schools and many local organizations including the Canton City Schools Foundation Board. Wells, a graduate of Leadership Stark County’s 14th class, has served as director since summer 2002. Under her direction, the Leadership Board of Trustees conducted and implemented a strategic plan, the office staff has gained stability and grown, and a Sponsorship Program has been established. The Leadership Stark County Signature Program, established in 1987, collaborates with 13 Northeast Ohio Leadership programs in a Regional Economics Program Day. Under Wells’ direction, Leadership Stark County added the annual Local Government Leadership Academy for elected and aspiring officials, as well as a short-course for young professionals, Spotlight Stark County, in 2006.