Peter Tokar III is the next president and CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, effective mid-January 2024.
CREDIT QC CHAMBER
Congratulations to Peter Tokar III, who is starting this month as the new president and CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, succeeding LaDrina Wilson. Most recently, Mr. Tokar was president and CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation, located 30 miles north of Dallas. He also has considerable economic development experience in various […]
Congratulations to Peter Tokar III, who is starting this month as the new president and CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, succeeding LaDrina Wilson.Most recently, Mr. Tokar was president and CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation, located 30 miles north of Dallas. He also has considerable economic development experience in various roles in Georgia and Florida.We especially appreciate his background as founder and president of Tech Alpharetta, the first organization of its kind in Georgia. It was established in 2012 by the City of Alpharetta and is an independent, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization today focused on helping support established and startup technology companies.This background should marry well with John Deere’s continued focus on becoming a technology company rather than primarily a staid manufacturer.Economic development leaders and organizations around the country are trying to adapt to new economic realities, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.Being the head of a chamber organization is one of the most high-profile and most challenging positions in economic development because often the wide constituency within the organization wants something completely different. One business leader might want more of a focus on building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, while another might prefer a focus on recruiting interstate commerce companies. Yet another one might not want that at all because they are having a hard enough time finding enough workers. And a city official might want all of it done in their respective community.We wish Mr. Tokar the best and his success will be the Quad Cities’ success.
QC meets the Ivy League again
One of the world’s most prominent educational institutions is now being led by a native of Rock Island. Harvard University’s Interim President Dr. Alan Garber attended Rock Island High School, Class of 1970.Dr. Garber’s extensive experience and deep resume are among the reasons the Harvard Corporation — the university system’s top governing body — said it chose the Harvard provost and chief academic officer for the past 12 years for the task.“An economist and a physician, he is a distinguished and wide-ranging scholar with appointments at Harvard Medical School, Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,” the corporation said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have someone of Alan’s broad and deep experience, incisive judgment, collaborative style, and extraordinary institutional knowledge to carry forward key priorities and to guide the university through this interim period.”Dr. Garber’s QC heritage isn’t unique, however. Jim Yong Kim, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, but grew up in Muscatine, Iowa, was the president of Dartmouth College from 2009 to 2012, becoming the first Asian American president of an Ivy League institution. He went on to become the president of the World Bank after being nominated by President Barack Obama.Dr. Kim was named the world’s 50th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine’s List of The World’s Most Powerful People in 2013.
