Huntsville/Madison County Chamber installs 2025 Board Chair; also surprises two with Distinguished Service Awards

February 5, 2025

L to R: Sameer Singhal (center) with this year’s two Distinguished Service Award winners, Shane Davis of the City of Huntsville (left) and LaFreeda Jordan of UAH (right)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 5, 2025) – The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber hosted its 89th Annual Membership Meeting on Wednesday in the Von Braun Center Saturn Ballroom. During the event, in his last official act as Chair, 2024 Chamber Board Chair Sameer Singhal presented the Distinguished Service Award to LaFreeda Jordan and Shane Davis.

The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor the Chamber bestows to an individual in the Huntsville/Madison County community. Singhal selected Jordan and Davis for this award due to their work behind the scenes impacting our community. Davis is the City of Huntsville’s Director of Urban and Economic Development and has played a critical role in supporting economic development projects such as Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, Polaris, and GE Aviation. Jordan works as Chief of External Affairs at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, enhancing UAH’s relationship with local industry, Redstone Arsenal, and the community. She previously worked for U.S. Senator Richard Shelby for 25 years, serving as the key interface between his office and the north Alabama community.

Singhal is President and CEO of CFD Research, located in Cummings Research Park. He officially handed the gavel to the Chamber’s 2025 Board Chair, Jeff Samz, who is President & CEO of Huntsville Hospital Health System.

L to R: Jeff Samz, 2025 Board Chair for the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber, accepts the gavel from Sameer Singhal, 2024 Board Chair (Huntsville/Madison County Chamber)

The Chamber’s Annual Membership Meeting gives us the opportunity to present updates on the past year to members and community leaders, plus look ahead to what’s in store in the coming months. We also shared our 2024 Annual Report with attendees.

Paul Zikopoulos was the keynote speaker for the luncheon. He is a future trends expert and VP of Technology Group Skills Vitality & Enablement at IBM.

View the photo albums:

020525 Annual Membership Meeting (Photos by Headshot HSV)

020525 Annual Membership Meeting (Photos by Chamber staff)

For more information, please contact:

Claire Aiello
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Huntsville/Madison County Chamber