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Celina CEO hires new CEO/President
By Michael Boren, mcboren@syr.edu
Joining the Celina Chamber of Commerce was a way for Jeran Akers to jump into the business world that an illness took away from him.
The former Mayor of Plano became the chamber’s CEO and president Monday, saying he’s ready to help businesses after recovering from pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that scars lung tissue.
Akers had his own business for at least 30 years but sold the major assets to it four years ago. The disease forced him to conduct work with an oxygen tank and then completely inactivated him from business, he said.
“I’ll be celebrating my two years of gift of life next month,” he said.
And now?
“I actually have not felt this good in years,” said an upbeat Akers.
Once he began feeling better, he wanted to return to his interest of business development, he said.
He applied for teaching jobs at the University of North Texas, University of Texas at Dallas, a position at the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the CEO position for Celina’s Chamber of Commerce.
Akers underwent four face-to-face interviews with Celina officials.
“They could read the experience on my resume,” he said. “But they wanted to know what my interest was.
“They just wanted to get to know me.”
He now knows the chamber’s board of directors well and is still meeting other chamber members, he said. He plans on meeting the Celina Independent School District’s superintendent as well.
He hopes to help Celina businesses by educating and giving them ideas, networking with different chambers and facilitating a good business climate for the city and county, he said.
The former CEO and president of the chamber took a position in another town to be near family, he said.
Akers will lead the Chamber's day-to-day operations and also manage the Chamber's participation in the annual balloon festival, Fun Run and other events.
“We are happy that Jeran Akers is joining us at the Celina Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Akers brings a great deal of experience to us, having managed and led both small and large companies. He owned Akers & Associates, Inc.a sales and marketing company. Prior to that he was a sales manager for Standard Oil of Ohio. We believe that with this strong background in sales and marketing he will help in our growth as Celina continues to develop.”
Akers said, “My goal is to help the members of the Celina Chamber of Commerce be even more successful. I want to help Celina to continue to grow, while maintaining her small town charm. I look forward to working with our board of directors, our members, the city, the school district and all of our citizens to achieve this goal.”
Akers was a captain in the US Air Force, graduated from the University of Alabama and has a Masters degree from the University of Northern Colorado.
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