Southeast Tennessee Heroes Luncheon 2016 - Keynote Speaker, Randy Boyd

The ninth annual Heroes Luncheon is Wednesday, October 19 at The Chattanoogan Hotel. This annual event recognizes every day ordinary people who make extraordinary contributions by putting their needs aside to help others in our community.

Randy Boyd is this year’s keynote speaker. Mr. Boyd was sworn in on January 17, 2015 by Governor Bill Haslam to serve as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The department is responsible for recruiting business and industry to the state as well as Tennessee’s overall economic growth.

Prior to joining TNECD, Mr. Boyd founded Radio Systems Corporation from which he is currently taking a leave of absence. Radio Systems is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee and has over 700 associates worldwide with offices in seven countries. The company produces over 4,600 pet products under brand names such as Invisible Fence, PetSafe, and SportDOG. It is a privately held corporation with sales over $370 million. He is also owner of Boyd Sports LLC, owner of the Tennessee Smokies Baseball team, the AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and the Johnson City Cardinals, a rookie league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

He is also on the Board of many non-profit organizations. Of particular note, he is the Chairman of tnAchieves, a mentor-assisted scholarship program that has sent over 10,000 first generation community college students across the state of Tennessee all through private donations and in 2015 is providing operational support for students participating in the Tennessee Promise in 85 counties.
In 2013, he took a year leave of absence from his company to serve Governor Bill Haslam in a volunteer role as his Special Advisor on Higher Education assisting in the development of the Drive to 55 initiatives and the Tennessee Promise. The Tennessee Promise will provide free tuition and fees to community college to approximately 15,000 Tennesseans per year, all matched with a trained, volunteer mentor.

In addition to serving as Commissioner of ECD, he is also Chairman of the Governor’s Workforce Sub-Cabinet, Co-Chairman of the Rural Taskforce and Chairman of Launch Tennessee that supports entrepreneurship across the state, and Chairman of the Aviation Task force which is tasked with maintaining our nation leading airport infrastructure.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit redcross.org/realheroes.