Florida Chamber Board of Directors Elect Holland & Knight Partner Bob Grammig as 2017-2018 Chair

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 1, 2017) – Bob Grammig, partner and leader of the firm-wide Corporate, M&A and Securities Practice at Holland & Knight, LLP, has been elected as the 2017-2018 Chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.

“Bob Grammig’s leadership in Florida’s business community has been instrumental to ensuring a strong business climate for job creators,” said Mark Wilson President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, “Bob is an advocate for free-enterprise and believes a competitive workforce, and strong global ties will help ensure Florida’s diverse communities can unite under an integrated business agenda.”

Grammig replaces outgoing Florida Chamber Board of Director Chair Syd Kitson, Chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, whose term expired October 31, 2017.

“For over 100 years, the Florida Chamber has been the premier organization focused on improving the lives of Floridians by driving the long-term economic vitality of our state.  Holland & Knight, through its membership, has supported this mission since the inception of the Chamber,” said Grammig.  “I’m proud to be part of an organization that tirelessly fights to support job creators, to defeat special interests that advocate job-killing policies which would impair innovation and economic opportunities for our citizens and to secure a better future for Florida’s families and businesses.”

A long-time Floridian, he has been based in the Tampa office of Holland & Knight for over 35 years.  He serves on the Firm’s Director’s Committee.  He has advised many prominent Florida businesses in various industries on a wide range of business issues, including numerous public offerings and domestic and foreign acquisitions.  He attended high school in Melbourne, Florida and holds a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.  Immediately prior to joining Holland & Knight, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas A. Clark, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.

Grammig is involved in a number of civic and charitable activities.  He serves as a director of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and a member of the leadership committee of the Florida Chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce.  He has previously served as a director of the Tampa Bay International Trade Council and as a director of the Tampa Bay Child Abuse Committee.  He also served as General Counsel to the 2012 Host Committee for the Republican National Convention.

Grammig’s one-year term as Chair of the Florida Chamber Board runs from November 1, 2017 through October 31, 2018.

In addition to outgoing chair Syd Kitson, Past Chairs of the Florida Chamber’s Board of Directors have included: Tracy Duda Chapman, Senior Vice President/General Counsel A. Duda & Sons, Inc.; Steve Knopik, Chief Executive Officer of Beall’s, Inc.; Eric Silagy, President and CEO of Florida Power and Light Company; Lars Houmann, President and CEO of Florida Hospital and President and CEO of the Florida Division Adventist Health System; Anthony Connelly, Senior Vice President-Operations, Disney Cruise Line, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S.; former Speaker of the House Allan Bense; Steve Halverson, President and CEO of The Haskell company; Marshall M. Criser, III, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida; Susan Story, President and CEO, American Water Works Company; former Lt. Governor and Senate President Toni Jennings.

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Established in 1916 as Florida’s first statewide business advocacy organization, the Florida Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business and the state’s largest federation of employers, chambers of commerce and associations aggressively representing small and large businesses from every industry and every region. The Florida Chamber works within all branches of government to affect those changes set forth in the annual Florida Business Agenda, and which are seen as crucial to secure Florida’s future. The Florida Chamber works closely with its Florida Political Operations and the Florida Chamber Foundation. Visit www.FLChamber.com for more information.

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