President and CEO

David W. Graybill was named President and CEO of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber (TPCC) in 1983. Previously, he served as the executive of chambers and industrial development corporations in Nebraska and Colorado and on the staff of the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce.

His education includes a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Iowa, and an M.A. in Management and Leadership from City University; completion of the Academy of Organizational Management, University of Notre Dame; graduation from the Basic Industrial Development Course, University of Arizona; and attendance at the Industrial Development Institute, University of Oklahoma. Graybill also completed the Executive Leadership and Entrepreneurial Leadership courses of the Center for Creative Leadership at Greensboro, North Carolina.

Graybill is a Certified Economic Developer by the International Economic Development Council and a Certified Chamber Executive by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.

He was elected President of two state Chamber Executive Associations—Nebraska and Washington—and served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. Currently, Graybill is a Trustee of the ACCE Benefits Trust. He also served as a Director of the American Economic Development Council.

Graybill received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Air Mobility Command of the U.S. Air Force twice for his work in support of local military installations.

He is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, Tacoma-Pierce County Chapter.

Graybill is accredited with many area achievements through TPCC. The Chamber has been awarded the highest accreditation ranking—5-Star—through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for the management of Tacoma's Downtown Business Improvement Area (BIA) and initiated the Tacoma-Pierce County economic development benchmark analysis that resulted in regional strategy and business climate improvement agenda fully supported by the public and private sectors. He organized the county-wide transportation advocacy coalition, Regional Access and Mobility Project (RAMP), raised $1.7 M and $2 M in successive initiatives for four-year economic development, community image building and marketing programs.

He established a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. for community leaders now in its 21st year, and co-sponsored a regional business trade mission to China in 2001 and 2002 that resulted in a sister chamber relationship. Graybill enhanced Chamber benefits to area small business including sponsorship of Puget Sound's most successful business-to-business EXPO, gained involvement of tech members through new Chamber vehicle—the Technology Consortium, and developed, marketed, and raised special funds for innovative programs such as school-to-business partnership and a community image building initiative—the Media Center for Tacoma-Pierce County. Graybill is responsible for the development of the high energy "Power Through Connections" branding consistent with the community's "Wired City" technology development strategy.

Other current business and civic involvements include: Member, Tacoma Rotary No. 8, Director, Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County; Director, World Trade Center, Tacoma; Director, Workforce Development Council—WorkSource Pierce; Director, United Way of Pierce County; Executive Committee Member, Pierce County Careers Consortium; Secretary, Economic Development Corporation of Pierce County; Member, Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma.

Graybill was the first recipient of the "Quality Mentor award" from the University of Puget Sound's Business Leadership Program in 2001 and was named a Business Leader by the University of Washington Tacoma in 2001. He is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 and was recently awarded ACCE's Ford Foundation Regionalism an Sustainable Development Fellowship.