Tulsa Successes and Future Wins **SPONSORED by Mr. Ed's Auction
Date: Monday, September 11, 2023
Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm
Location: DoubleTree Downtown 616 W. 7th Street Tulsa 74127
Speaker: Mike Neal, President and CEO, Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce
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Michael S. Neal, CCE, CCD, FM, HLM, IOM, is in his 16th year as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, which serves 20 counties in northeast Oklahoma. The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives named the then Tulsa Metro Chamber as the Nation’s Best Chamber for a record three consecutive years of eligibility, being named the National Chamber of the Year in 2010, 2008 and 2005.In 2018, the Chamber was again a finalist for the award, and in 2020 was named the nation’s best Chamber for a record fourth time. In 2021, the Chamber was awarded bronze rank in the Economic Development Organization of the Year program administered by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
In 2021, IEDC awarded Neal its Fellow Member (FM) status, which is conferred upon active IEDC members who have achieved success in the field of economic development. In 2018, the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives (OCCE) inducted Neal into their Hall of Fame in recognition of his 30 years of service to the chamber industry. Tulsa People magazine named Neal the 2011 Tulsan of the Year for his limitless energy, can-do optimism and tireless efforts toward making Tulsa a betterplace. They called him “Mr. Tulsa.” Southern Business and Development in 2011 recognized him as one of the Top 10 Economic Developers in the South. The Southern Economic Development Council named Neal an Honorary Life Member (HLM) in 2012. In 2010 he was named the Chamber Executive of the Year by OCCE. The Louisiana Chamber of Commerce Executives named him their Chamber Executive of the Year in 1998 and 2000.
Prior to coming to Tulsa, Neal spent four years as president and CEO of the Nashville, TN, Area Chamber of Commerce, and 12 years as president and CEO of his hometown, Monroe, LA, Chamber of Commerce. Previously he served as District Office Manager for U.S. Congressman Jerry Huckaby and as Trust Officer for Central Bank (now Chase) in Monroe, LA.
Under his leadership, the Tulsa RegionalChamber is the only Chamber in America to earn fouraccreditations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s highest recognition, five-star accreditation;the International Economic Development Council’s prestigious Accredited Economic Development Organizationdistinction;Destination International’s Destination Marketing Accreditation; and an Accredited Film Commission by the Association of Film Commissioners International.
In 2019, the Chamber achieved the third of five increasingly rigorous levels withinthe Oklahoma Quality Foundation (OQF) framework, which is based on Malcolm Baldrige criteria. The Chamber previously achieved level one within the OQF framework in 2013, and level two in 2015. In 2015, the Chamber also received the American Society of Association Executives’ Summit Award.
Neal leads the Chamber’s full-time professional staff of 50 in the areas of regional economic development, convention and visitor development, government affairs, education, workforce development, small business, sports, young professionals, downtown and river development, political action, and membership services while managing a $15.5 million budget. Through more than 2,150 member organizations, the Chamber represents more than 178,000 regional employees. Neal led the creation of the Tulsa Regional Chamber Coalition and their OneVoice Regional State and Federal Legislative Agendas, which celebrated their 10th anniversaries in 2017.
Neal is heavily involved with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He serves on itsFoundation Board of Directors, its Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100, and its Transportation Infrastructure & Logistics Committee. Neal is also the current chairman of their Accrediting Board of Directors.
An active member of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), Neal has earned several professional designations, including Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) and Certified Community Developer (CCD). He received the prestigious Chairman’s Award, the highest national award given by ACCE. Neal was a long-time member of the ACCE Board of Directors and is currently Immediate Past Chairman of the ACCE Benefits Trust Retirement Program, a member of the Metro Cities Council, Economic & Community Development Committee and Past Chairman of the CCE Certification Commission. He is a graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership and Aspen Institute.
Additionally, Neal currently serves on the boards of the IEDC, the Western Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (WACE), the State Chamber of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals (Salute Committee Chairman and Town Hall Co-Chair), Oklahoma Tomorrow, the University of Tulsa Friends of Finance(as treasurer), VisitTulsa (Tulsa Convention & Visitors Bureau), the Tulsa Sports Commission, Tulsa’s Future III, TulsaBizPac and OklahomaBizPac. He was Vice President of Programs and Golf Tournament Chairman of the Foundation for Tulsa Public Schools. He previously served on the boards of the Southern Economic Development Council, the Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice, and the Oklahoma Business & Education Coalition.
Neal chaired the Oklahoma Governor’s Economic Development Marketing Team in 2015. He was appointed by then Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to her Oklahoma Task Force on Economic Development in 2010 and the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Reform Task Force in 2016. He is a graduate and Life Member of Leadership Oklahoma and Leadership Louisiana, serves as a member of the Governor’s International Team, Oklahoma Economic Development Council, Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives, American Highway Users Alliance, TRUST –Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation, INCOG Transportation Advisory Council and Economic Development District Board, the Research Institute for Economic Development, and the Oklahoma Historical Society. In 2017, Oklahoma Higher Education Chancellor Glen Johnson named Neal to the Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Oklahoma.
Former Tulsa Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. and the Tulsa City Council appointed Neal to the Arkansas River Infrastructure Task Force, charged with formalizing plans for river development involved with Vision 2025 Renewal and Vision Tulsa. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum appointed Neal to the Vision Tulsa Advisory Groupand, in 2020, to the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Advisory Committee.
Neal is a member of the Board of Trustees at First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa. He also serves on the Advisory Council for Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS), the Urban League of Metropolitan Tulsa and the Junior League of Tulsa. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Tulsa, the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane Club, the Center for Legislative Excellence, Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa Country Club, Patriot Golf Club, the Summit Club, the Tulsa Press Club, and the Folds of Honor Foundation. He is a member ofthe University of Louisiana Monroe Alumni Association, Athletic Scholarship Foundation and Letterman’s Club, as well as the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation and the University of Kentucky Athletics Foundation. He is a former board member of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited and i2E. Neal was the founder of, and charter graduate of, Leadership Monroe/Ouachita Parish, and he is a graduate of Leadership Nashville and Leadership Music.
Neal is a 1980 accounting graduate from the University of Louisiana Monroe, where he played baseball.
Neal and his wife, Jana, have two daughters –Cambridge, age 26, a 2017 graduate of Ole Miss; and Caroline, age 23, a 2020 graduate of the University of Kentucky and a 2021 graduate of the University of Louisville.
