Clay County Chamber Executive Director leaving to take position with Calhoun County Chamber

The seven-year executive director of the Clay County Chamber of Commerce has announced that she will end her tenure with the Clay County Chamber  this week to start Monday as the new tourism director for the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce.  Mary Patchunka-Smith became executive director of the Clay Chamber in 2007. In 2012, the chamber was recognized as the Tourism Organization of the Year by the Alabama Department of Transportation.  Although she’s moving to a more populated area, Patchunka-Smith said the challenges in Calhoun County aren’t all that different from Clay County’s. She said her job is to make sure tourists who come to the area can get the most out of everything the region has to offer.  Patchunka-Smith is already familiar with Calhoun County, having served on several tourism boards for the area including the Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail Committee, the Tour East Central Alabama Tourism Project and as a board member of the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission.