2009 Cobb Chamber Immediate Past Chairman
Sam Kelly
Immediate past chair for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce is Sam Kelly of Cobb EMC.
Kelly became part of the third father-son pair (and second in a row) to serve as chairman of the Cobb Chamber. Kelly’s father, Walter Kelly, Jr., served as chairman in 1977. The father-son pair of Wyman Pilcher, Jr. and Wyman Pilcher III led the Chamber in 1955 and 1989, respectively, and Fred Bentley, Sr. served as chairman in 1963, while his son Fred Bentley, Jr. served as chairman last year.
A Marietta native, Kelly has been employed by Cobb Energy and Cobb EMC since 1989. He currently is the vice president of public relations, a position he has held since 2004. Kelly started with the company as director for energy services and was promoted to manager of marketing and public relations in 1997. Within the electric utility industry, he served on the combined residential/commercial task force for the Electric Power Research Institute from 1992
to 1998.
Kelly, a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Public Administration degree, has been an active participant in the Cobb Chamber of Commerce for many years. His activities include Membership Campaign team captain for five years and a division captain for seven years, Leadership Cobb Class of 1992, Leadership Cobb Media Day co-chair in 2001 and 2007, Honorary Commanders Class of 1998, Cobb Chamber Board of Directors from 1995 to1997
and 2005 to present, Marketing and Communications Chairman in 1995, Marietta Area Council Vice Chairman in 2005 and Marietta Area Council Chairman in 2007.
Kelly’s charitable affiliations include the March of Dimes “WalkAmerica” and the Boy Scouts of America. Kelly has served on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cobb County since 1997. He is also the co-chairman for the Center for Family Resources Oscar Night Gala 2007.
Additionally, Kelly is the immediate past president of the Kiwanis Club of Marietta, where he has served as Membership Chairman from 2002 to 2003 and has been on the Board of Directors since 2003.
Kelly resides in Marietta with his wife, Margaret, a kindergarten teacher at Lockheed Elementary School.