By BETH CHAPMAN / Community Columnist

Each year at this time, a new class of Leadership Shelby County begins. Such was the case on Aug. 16 at the kickoff breakfast held at the Shelby Campus of Jefferson State Community College.

More than 35 incoming members of the program attended.

The guest speaker was Probate Judge Jim Fuhrmeister.  Fuhrmeister spoke of the importance of leadership and the positive experience he had going through the program.

Fuhrmeister welcomed the incoming members and encouraged them to build new relationships with their classmates, thus making new connections in our community and our community a better place to live.

This year’s class will begin with a retreat in September followed by seven monthly seminars on various topics and issues of interest to Shelby County. In addition to monthly seminars, the class will be assigned projects on chosen topics and will conclude in May with project presentations and graduation.

Many successful programs have begun based on work accomplished in Leadership Shelby County Groups, including  CASA, the Shelby County Arts program and Mental Health Court.

The 18th Leadership Shelby County class includes the following professionals:

Kathryn Acree, 280 Living; Naseem Ajlouny, Full Moon BBQ; Dennis Blackerby, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office; Stuart Brock, EGS Commercial Leasing and Brokerage; Tammy Brush, Keller Williams Realty Metro South; Phil Burns, CIO Shelby County; Alan Campbell, Shelby County 911; Miranda Carter, Johnny Ray’s/Yogurt Your Way; Stephen Craft, University of Montevallo; Neal DePiano, City of Hoover Fire Dept.; George Henry, City of Alabaster; Daniel Holmes, Shelby County Newspapers, Inc.; Kerry Horton, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama; Michelle Johnston, University of Montevallo; Amy Jones, Shelby County Newspapers, Inc.; Bill Keller, Regions Bank; Cindy Kelly, Office of the U.S. Attorney; Jon Lauderdale, Alagasco; Lori Leonard, Krebs Architecture & Engineering, Inc.; Linda Maxwell, Shelby County Schools, Joseph McGee, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office; Maurice Mercer, AL Midsouth Council, R.W.D.S.U.; Aubrey Miller, Shelby County Schools; Jennifer Miller, Shelby Humane Society; Dwight Mullis, Alabama Power Co.; Teresa Nichols, City of Pelham; Robby Owens, Shelby County District Attorney; Lori Quinn, Shelby Baptist Medical Center; Larry Sailes, Virginia College; Wendy Sandlin, Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce; Terry Sutton, Montevallo First Baptist Church; Jessica Vance, MailSouth; Marlene Wallace, Career Concepts, Inc.; Kristin Webb, The Arc of Shelby County; and Kendall Williams, America’s First Federal Credit Union

For more information on Leadership Shelby County contact Carol Bruser at bruserca@montevallo.edu

Beth Chapman, Alabama’s secretary of state, is a Shelby County resident and writes a weekly column for the Shelby County Reporter. You can reach her at bethchapman@bellsouth.net.