Amy Whitman is the new Chamber of Commerce’s Director of Government Affairs. She started Feb. 17, just three weeks before the 2005 Legislative session in Tallahassee began and, as she put it, “hit the ground running.” Whitman lives in Jacksonville Beach with her husband, three cats and a dog. Her parents live nearby in Neptune Beach. When she is not on the go, Whitman enjoys relaxing by reading or camping. A long-time Jacksonville resident and a self proclaimed “Navy brat,” she attended Fletcher High School and the University of Florida where she studied sociology and obtained her law degree.
What do you do?
“I run the Governmental Affairs department, so we have monthly committee meetings that I’m responsible for. We are run by our members, so I have a chairman of the Governmental Affairs committee and we have a chairman of task forces within the committee. There are local, state and federal issues, so I’m responsible to answering to those branches. I’m responsible for coordinating the Chamber’s federal business advocacy agenda on the federal level. I basically serve as the contact to the Congressional Delegation office staff and I help monitor federal issues. I’m responsible for our Washington, D.C. trip which we do once a year. We take about 60 chamber volunteers when we go up and lobby our federal business agenda to the Congress, both Senate and House. On the state issues, I monitor state legislation and also develop our state business advocacy agenda. I act as a liaison to the Duval Delegation and monitor state issues throughout the year, so I’m also over at session bill tracking and lobbying. We do Jacksonville Day with the City of Jacksonville, but the city has organized it the past couple of years. This year, we’ve taken that over, but we are still working with them and they are still handling all the entertainment. I’m the liaison to the city council and I monitor all the local issues. I also work with Cornerstone and Economic Development to make sure their issues are being addressed.”
What is the function of the Chamber?
“The mission of the Chamber is to lead regional economic development, foster a positive business climate and leverage essential resources that create, enhance and expand First Coast businesses. In support of that, Governmental Affairs is the governmental advocacy part of the Chamber.”
What did you do prior to working for the Chamber?
“First, I went to work as an analyst intern at House Committee on governmental operations, and at the same time I was a clerk and attorney with Hopping, Green, Sams and Smith, P.A. Then I worked at the Department of State and division of elections as assistant general counsel. I was the one who helped draft the election format. Prior to this position, I was Director of Local Governmental Affairs with KB Home Jacksonville.”
Is this job similar to any of your other work experience?
“I was doing local issues in local governmental affairs, and when I was at the State, that helped round out my Tallahassee experience.”
What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
“The most challenging thing is time management and the fact that I started this job three weeks before session. I’ve just hit the ground running, but that is the nature of these kinds of jobs and that is what makes it fun. The session in Tallahassee is from March 8 to April 6. I’ve been there almost every week. We watch the session, go to the committee meetings, and talk to members. We also monitor the legislation and the budget.”
Do you belong to any organizations?
“I’m on the board of Builders Care. It’s a group through the Northeast Florida Builders Association that does emergency repairs on low-income housing.”