The American Chamber of Commerce executives have selected Richard C. D. “Dick” Fleming, former CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, to receive the 2014 John Parr Award, recognizing a lifetime of outstanding individual leadership in advancing regional stewardship of metropolitan areas.
The Parr Award will be formally presented on Wednesday at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives’ centennial convention in Cincinnati.
The John Parr Award was established in 2008 by the Alliance for Regional Stewardship to recognize individuals who have dedicated their professional and personal lives, as well as social and political capital, to advancing regional stewardship.
The award commemorates the legacy of the late Parr (1948-2007), former chief executive of the National Civic League, co-founder of ARS and one of America’s foremost advisers in the areas of collaborative government, public/private partnerships and regional governance.
“Frankly, I think of no one in our profession who has done more and been more committed to regionalism than Dick Fleming,” said J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street Services. “I know John Parr would be glad to see his old neighbor Dick receive this prestigious award.”
For more than 30 years, Fleming has been a civic entrepreneur engaged in private sector and public initiatives to revitalize center cities and metropolitan communities in Atlanta, Denver and St. Louis.
“There couldn’t be a more fitting recipient of the John Parr Award than Dick Fleming,” said Neal Pierce, editor-in-chief of “Citiscope” and former nationally syndicated urban affairs columnist for the Washington Post. “John and Dick were long-time, close collaborators on critical innovations for the future of the Denver metropolitan region. They collaborated even on joint nationwide civic projects after Dick left his post as Chamber of Commerce executive director in Denver to serve long years with distinction in the same role in St. Louis. In different ways – governmental, civic and personal – these two men worked wonders for the public good.”
During Fleming’s time in Denver, he was instrumental in the revitalization of downtown, the development of the 16th Street Mall, Denver International Airport and the recruitment of major league baseball.
In 1994, he was recruited to St. Louis as president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, where he led a staff of 50 and built an annual operating budget and reserve of more than $11 million. He stepped down from the Chamber in January 2012 and became Chairman of Community Development Ventures, Inc., a St. Louis-based economic and community development strategy firm.
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