Spartanburg’s Allen Smith gets national chamber award

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Allen Smith, president and CEO of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce, has been awarded the inaugural Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives 2019 40 Under 40 award, which “recognizes young professionals that have demonstrated significant success in their career as well as having made noteworthy contributions to their community,” according to a news release.

The award is designed to highlight “the brightest men and women” under the age of 40 in the chamber industry, the release said.

“The success of our work is directly related to the relationships we’ve been able to build with all of our public and private partners,” Katherine O’Neill, chairwoman of the Spartanburg Chamber executive board, said in the release. “Allen, supported by our professional staff and community partners, has helped spearhead many cutting-edge and collaborative efforts related to talent, place, image, economy, inclusion, tourism and local business development. Nationally, Spartanburg now boasts the 8th fastest growing millennial population for small metros and is also the 19th fastest growing metro area, which is a testament to some of these long-term efforts.”

Smith joined the Spartanburg Chamber after four years leading the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure in Spartanburg, the community has experienced economic and tourism development success, capped off by the launch and implementation of the OneSpartanburg initiative, a five-year community and economic development strategy. Smith also led the campaign to pass the penny sales tax which will lead to more than $220 million in public infrastructure projects.