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Welcome Gary Chartrand

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

WE MEET AT RIVER CITY BREWING COMPANY
Lunch Begins at Noon - Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m.

Meet Gary Chartrand
Gary Chartrand is the Executive Chairman of Acosta.  Acosta is a leading full-service sales and marketing agency, providing outsourced sales, merchandising, marketing and promotional services to manufacturers in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.   The Company employs over 18,000 associates and operates 64 offices in the U.S. and Canada. He has been the pivotal force behind quadrupling the company's geographic coverage, transforming Acosta into a leading full-service sales and marketing company in the U.S. and Canada.
Gary received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the State of Florida in May 2001, and has been an extraordinary leader in his industry and his community.  From 2003 to 2009 Mr. Chartrand was recognized as one of the 50 most powerful leaders in the grocery industry by Supermarket News.

Mr. Chartrand also has a passion for educating the children of Duval County.  In April 2007, he led a community effort to bring Teach for America to Jacksonville beginning in 2008.  Jacksonville was the second city in Florida to have attracted Teach for America to its community.  Without Mr. Chartrand’s leadership, coordination with the Superintendent of schools, and his gift of a million dollars, this program would not be a reality for Jacksonville. In June of 2009 Gary and Nancy made a pledge gift of $1Million dollars to KIPP schools of Jacksonville. The first KIPP School in Florida opened in August of 2010.

Gary currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation; St. Vincent’s Hospital and is Chairman of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, and a director on the board of the KIPP schools in Jacksonville, FL.  In May of 2011 Governor Rick Scott  appointed Gary to the Florida state board of education .He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the I. M. Sulzbacher Homeless Center in Jacksonville.    He is also an enthusiastic supporter of the Catholic Charities, Guardian of Dreams, Catholic schools and the Diocese of St. Augustine.

Gary is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.  He resides in Ponte Vedra Beach with his wife, Nancy.  They have two children, Jeffrey and Meredith. 

Gary R. Chartrand is a native of Bedford, New Hampshire and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. After college, he began his career in the consumer products industry with the Carnation Company, where he served in various capacities that culminated in a year term as Assistant District Manager for the State of Florida. He joined Acosta in 1983 as a Business Manager, and subsequently was promoted to Vice President, Regional Vice President of Florida, President, and in January 1996, President and CEO. Under the leadership of Mr. Chartrand, Acosta merged with PMI-Eisenhart in July of 1998 and he became Chairman and CEO Acosta Sales and Marketing Company (one of the largest privately held companies in Jacksonville, Florida) represents 1300 Consumer Package Goods companies in America with annual billings in excess of $60 billion dollars.
Mr. Chartrand has been extremely active in supporting areas of critical need both as CEO of Acosta and personally through The Chartrand Foundation. For twenty years Acosta has implemented a cause marketing campaign that has raised over $70 million dollars for the support of MDA. In 2004 Acosta embarked on a similar campaign to raise money for Americas Second Harvest, the nation's largest food bank network. In 2006 St. Vincent’s Hospital named the Gary and Nancy Chartrand Heart and Vascular Center after receiving the lead gift from Gary and Nancy. The Chartrand Foundation was established to support innovative approaches to education with a focus on the underserved. Gary and his wife Nancy have two children Jeffrey and Meredith and reside in Ponte Vedra , Florida.

Come and join your fellow Rotary members for an evening of Holiday tradition with a special performance of Christmas Carole at the New Alhambra Theater and Dining.  Ticket prices are $100 each, or $150 per couple, $50 for children under 16 years of age. 


Corporate sponsorships available - please contact Jason Burnett at 904-596-0284.




An invitation from our guest speaker last week, Chris Veal, to the Women’s Heart Health Program.  The web sit for the program:  



Rotary News

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