Speaker Profile
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Clyde R. Hoey II56 James Landing Road |
For nearly twelve years, Clyde R. Hoey II served as President and CEO of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber serves businesses in the Virginia cities of Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson and the Counties of York and James City.
A native of Shelby, N. C. and a graduate of North Carolina State University, Mr. Hoey held a manufacturing position with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and was a successful Field Sales Engineering for Ingersoll Rand Company. In the early seventies he purchased Grimsley & Grimsley, Inc. a small Manufacturers Representative Firm and also became a Certified Manufacturing Engineer.
Over the next twenty-three years, Grimsley & Grimsley, Inc. was transformed into a full integrated industrial tool distributor representing 700 companies and specializing in air tools, cutting tools, abrasives, and material handling equipment. By the early nineties, the company’s home office in Portsmouth, Virginia had established branch operations in Charleston, S. C., Charlotte, N. C. and Salem, VA. Due to the need for expansion capitol, the company was merged with Virginia Carolina Tool Company in 1992.
In addition to ownership and management responsibilities needed for a growing company, Mr. Hoey served as President of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, and in 1983, was nominated as Chairman of a committee that successfully merged the Chambers of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk into the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
In July of 1994, the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce hired Mr. Hoey to affect a business-turn-around. The Chamber was over $400,000 in debt with less than 1,000 members. The structure of business support programs and activities were in shambles or non-existent. The general public image of the Chamber was that it was not an effective organization. That was then.
March 2006, Hoey has retired from the Chamber leaving a legacy of over 2,500 members; having won numerous awards for membership development and retention; for programs instituted to serve the needs of the business community; retirement of all bank debts and an image of leadership across the five communities served by the Chamber.
Mr. Hoey founded The Peninsula Resource Group, LLC in the fall of 2006 and now offers his experience and background as a consultant to any segment of business, industry or commerce. His focus is lending assistance in addressing/solving a problem, planning or achieving goals/objectives. He is a strong supporter of Regional growth and development while serving all business sectors, large and small alike. He is a firm believer that membership has it privileges but that all businesses should be nurtured.