Hunter Hall, president of the Covington/Newton Chamber of Commerce, announced this past week that current vice president for economic development Roger Harrison is leaving his position.

In his three-year tenure, Harrison took a non-existing position and turned it into a progressive, active position.

His post has either directly or indirectly helped place 1,900 jobs and 1.245 billion dollars in added investment in Newton County.

Among the businesses that have either expanded or relocated here are Baxter International, Vestar Technologies, SKC Inc., Bridgestone Golf and Nisshinbo Automotive.

During his time here, Harrison has been a positive representative for our community.

We wish him well in his new duties, and we thank him for his efforts to help start us back on the road to economic recovery.

Taking Harrison’s place will be Courtney Bernardi who previously was with Jackson County.

Also joining her is James Johnson. Johnson has taken over from Shannon Davis, who recently left the chamber.

Bernardi will start Monday and she’ll work alongside Harrison for the next couple of weeks as she transitions into the role; Johnson will start April 22.

"I accepted the job in Newton County because Newton County is a community in which success is happening — a community with a history of being progressive in creating an environment of success for business, tourism and families," Bernardi said by email Friday afternoon.

We welcome Courtney Bernardi to our community and we wish her the continued success that Roger Harrison has led us to expect.