Jaene Miranda
Chief Executive Officer
Jaene Miranda is the Chief Executive Officer of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. In this position, our enthusiastic leader holds executive responsibility for the operations of this major regional chamber of commerce. Ms. Miranda earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication with a Marketing Minor from the University of Miami. Jaene is very active in the business and community fabric of west central Palm Beach County. She is an accomplished business professional with successful experiences in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. Jaene Miranda and husband, Ron, reside in Wellington with their two children, Michael and Nicole.
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Maureen Gross
Director of Development for Palms West Community Foundation
The Palms West Chamber is proud to welcome a familiar face from the community—Maureen Gross. A longtime resident of Wellington, Gross has been active in the community for over 18 years. She is currently working as the Director of Development for the Palms West Community Foundation. Prior to joining the Chamber, Gross worked at the American Cancer Society, heading up their fundraising efforts in the Western Communities. “When I was presented with the opportunity of running the non-profit arm of the Chamber—the Palms West Community Foundation, it made perfect sense! I have always worked on charitable events that benefitted the Western Communities. So, the idea of the Palms West Foundation, and its mission to utilize the business community to benefit the Western Communities as a whole for charitable purposes—it was an ideal fit.” Gross lives in Wellington with her husband, Donald and two dogs—Snickers and Scooter. They have an adult son, Sean.
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Mary Lou Bedford
Director of Marketing & Membership
Mary Lou Bedford is our Director of Marketing and Membership for the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. She began her career with the Chamber as Marketing Manager in October of 2010. In October of 2011, she was promoted to her current position where she oversees the marketing, advertising, public relations, membership recruitment and retention for the Chamber. Mary Lou received her B.S. in Communications, with two concentrations, one in public relations and the other in media from California State University, Sacramento. A resident of Wellington for the past 19 years, Mary Lou and her husband Scott, have been very active and love being part of the community. They have two daughters, Hilary and Amy.
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Faye Ford
Finance Manager
Faye Ford serves as Finance Manager for the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. In this role, she is responsible for the administration and maintenance of all financial transactions and records for The Chamber and for the Palms West Community Foundation. Faye attended both the University of Florida and the University of Miami, then went on to receive a Foundations of Banking diploma from the American Institute of Banking. She was born in New Jersey but considers Miami as her “hometown.” Faye Ford is a retired Vice President of Southeast Bank/First Union (now Wachovia). She moved to Wellington in 1994 and joined The Palms West Chamber staff in 1998. Active in the community, Ms. Ford has been very involved with the Wellington Women’s Club since 1998 and serves as that organization’s Treasurer. Her daughter, Jill, and her two “beautiful granddaughters,” Jessica and Caitlin, live in Arizona.
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Anitra Harmon
Florida Green, Energy & Climate Conference Director
Anitra Harmon is Florida Green, Energy & Climate Conference Director at the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. In this role, she has overall responsibilities for the operations surrounding the Florida Green, Energy & Climate Conference. Anitra graduated from Bourneville Grammar School for Girls and the Birmingham College of Commerce, both in the United Kingdom. When she can find the time, Ms. Harmon enjoys gardening, knitting and entertaining; however, it is travel with her husband of more than 40 years, John, which is her primary passion. But, when at home, Anitra highly values her monthly book club meetings with a 12-person group of “the most stimulating group of women to ever dissect a book” The Harmons have an adult daughter, Holly and an adorable Westie, Maggie.
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Neil Shpritz
Director of Economic Development
Neil Shpritz is Director of Economic Development at the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for supporting and advocating the efforts to attract jobs and capital investment to The Chamber’s regional service area. Neil is a veteran economic development professional who moved to Florida in 2003 after a successful economic development career in the Baltimore-Washington area. He also writes and edits the monthly chamber newsletter, PERSPECTIVE. Shpritz holds a B.S. Degree in Economics from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the American University School of Law. Neil has been active in community affairs, both in Maryland and Florida over many years. He and his wife, Phyllis, live in Delray Beach and have adult twin sons, Nathan and Kevin. Keeping up the family tradition, they now have twin grandsons, Ben and Zeke.
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Jessica Clasby
Membership Services & Young Professionals Manager
Jessica Clasby was hired as the Chamber’s Membership Services/Information Technology/Young Professionals Coordinator. Along membership, Clasby’s responsibilities include updating the organization’s website, its membership directory and coordinating the events for the Young Professionals group of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. Prior to the Chamber, Jessica worked for Aflac as a Regional Administrator Manager. Clasby has lived all over the world as she was raised in an Air Force family. She was born in Seoul, South Korea, speaks three languages including Korean and German, and has lived in South Korea, Hawaii, Utah, Massachusetts, Azores and Germany. She’s called Florida her home for the past nine years. In addition to her Chamber responsibilities, Clasby is earning her Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from Palm Beach Atlantic University.
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Marc Schlags
Special Events Director
Marc Schlags serves as The Chamber's Special Events Director and is responsible for the overall success of community events held in the Central Western Communities. He joined the Palms West Chamber staff following a successful five year stint at the Lake Worth Chamber. Schlags earned a B.S. degree in Hospitality Management with an emphasis on Sports Event Management from Johnson & Wales University in Denver, Colorado. Marc currently lives in Delray Beach and enjoys spending his few spare hours playing Poker and Baseball.
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Linda LoBianco
Membership Services
Linda LoBianco has been a most valuable resource to the Palms West Chamber of Commerce for more than two years. She started as a volunteer in 2007 and last year was hired on a part-time basis to help the organization with membership and events. Originally from York, PA, she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Villanova University and moved to West Palm Beach in 1999. In addition to her work at the chamber, Linda also volunteers at Wellington Regional Medical Center. She has two sons and two grandsons. When she’s not busy volunteering, she loves to travel, ride horses, garden and relax on the beach.
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Scott Brown
Legislative Office & Web Administrator
Scott Brown grew up and attended High School in Bradenton, Florida and moved to Tampa in 1998 to pursue his degree. In 2003, Scott graduated from University of South Florida with his Bachelors of Science in Management Information Systems. Post graduation, Scott served as an Outside Sales Representative at a company leading the industry in pneumatics, Logic Air. After accepting the position as Regional Sales Manager at Focus, Inc., he took charge of television and infomercial media sales, a unique niche in the sales market. He moved to Greenacres in June 2009 and was hired at the Palms West Chamber to manage the Chamber’s Website and provide administrative support. Scott is single and resides in Buttonwood West with father, Gary Brown, both fans of all Tampa Bay sports teams. Brown’s other interests include technology, animals, and enjoys playing tennis and basketball.
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Selma Bersin
Chamber Volunteer
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Phyllis Genther
Chamber Volunteer
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Carol Ghirardini
Chamber Volunteer
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Paula Moree
Chamber Volunteer
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Dan Piccolo
Chamber Volunteer
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