For 20 years, Sherrie Despino worked for a CPA. Today, the Alexandria native oversees the Ascension Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest advocacy organizations for growth in one of the fastest-growing parishes in the nation.
“Our mission is to facilitate and foster economic growth, and I take that to heart,” Despino says. “We are the voice of business in our community, and when you join or are a member, you belong to that greater organization.”
Despino became involved with that greater organization after her husband was transferred to Gonzales. She had always been interested in volunteer work, and she completed the Leadership Ascension program and was asked to sit on the chamber’s board of directors in 2003.
While in that role, she was active in the founding of the Ascension Economic Development Corporation, which has been highly successful in recruiting new business and industry to the parish. When the executive director’s position became vacant a little more than five years ago, several people asked Despino to apply.
She is known for being a passionate advocate for economic development, staying abreast of the key issues that affect business and industry in Ascension Parish and collaborating with other chambers of commerce, companies and agencies on matters that affect the parish, the region and the state.
She also leads the year-long Leadership Ascension program, which teaches professionals the ins and outs of the community, including cultural diversity, parish and state government, education, health care, social concerns, law enforcement and economic development. Some 35 community leaders annually graduate from the program.
Despino’s leadership abilities recently were confirmed when the Ascension Chamber of Commerce was named Louisiana’s 2010 Mid-Size Chamber of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
And she has no intention of resting on those laurels. Her goal for the next five years?
“I want the chamber to become even more of a driving force in this community—for businesses to really see what the chamber can do for them—not only in this community, but also in the outlying region,” she says. “We’re going in that direction, but we need to continue to the point where people see us as a total voice for the business community.”
Despino’s résumé reads like a who’s who of volunteers. She’s been involved in the Rotary Club of East Ascension, the March of Dimes High Heels for High Hopes Committee, the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Ascension Advisory Council, the Ascension Fund, the Jambalaya Festival Association, the Mayor’s Council of the Arts for Gonzales and the ARC of Ascension’s Dancing for a Cause.
Add to that two grown children with five grandchildren, and you have one busy businesswoman.
“My biggest accomplishment is just trying to be a good person,” she says. “I always put family and God first, and I really believe in giving back to the community. That’s what it’s really all about.”
