Job: Chairwoman of the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana and real estate agent at F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors
Hometown: Louisville, Ky.
Her Story: After six years of serving on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana, Kathy Briscoe has been promoted to chairwoman. With her new leadership, she intends to whole-heartedly continue supporting Evansville businesses.
Her Resume: With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in secondary education from the University of Evansville, Briscoe was a social studies and home economics teacher at Reitz, Bosse, and North high schools for several years before deciding to get her real estate license. She began selling real estate in 1985, and joined F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors in 1991. One year later, Briscoe became a broker-owner of the company. Her involvement with the Chamber of Commerce began in 2006, serving as director and vice-chairwoman before being named chairwoman.
Her Perspective: “My position is being a cheerleader for the business community — that’s the way I see it.”
On how she became a real estate agent: My husband has been a builder since 1974, and he thought I would like being involved in real estate. He saw it as something I could do while still having time for our kids. It’s been a good partnership — he builds them, I sell them.
On how she started with the Chamber: Our company (F.C. Tucker) has always had a membership with the Chamber, and I got involved with the board in 2006. I was able to attend their meetings, and I got excited about what they were doing. As a business owner, I was very excited to be working for an organization that so strongly supported business.
On balancing real estate and her new position: The reason it works so well to be active in the Chamber for any business is it coincides with your business. The Chamber will let you know what’s going on in the community, and good business leaders need to know that. The Chamber staff gives you enough support that your time is well spent and well organized.
On her community involvement: At F.C. Tucker, we refer to community involvement as “civic rent.” The community has been good to businesses, so I do whatever I can to personally give back. I am on the board of directors at WNIN Channel 9, am involved with the Deaconess Foundation, am a member and past president of ANEW (A Network of Evansville Women), and have been active in the local real estate association.
On making time for family: The beauty of being in business for yourself is that you make your own schedule. Anything that’s important to you is scheduled in. I have four granddaughters and five grandsons. You might call them my hobby.
On what she hopes to get out of the position: I feel a lot of satisfaction in seeing projects completed and goals met. We’ve done very well with I-69 — a wonderful accomplishment that we will be able to drive on in early November. I’m looking forward to completing other goals and strategic plans that the Chamber has. It’s good to meet other business owners in our community, and we’re all very like-minded; we want to see our economy grow, and we’re proud of where we live. We think this is a great place to live and raise a family.
For more information on the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana, visit www.evansvillechamber.com.