The Belton Alliance has announced new board members and officers for the 2022 year.  The officers include:

• Rex Maynard-President & Treasurer
• Dupre Keys-Vice-President
• Beth Cobb-Secretary
• Kevin Craft-Immediate Past President

Officers serve two-year terms, but due to Covid the 2019-2020 officers remained in place in 2021, thus the new officers will serve only a one-year term for 2022.

New board members are Michelle McCollum, Tammy Roberts and Dupre Keys.  Returning board members include Maynard, Craft and Cobb as well as Jan Bratcher, John Neel, Nathan Brown, Richard Dorn, Michael Gilreath, Gene Jameson and Joseph Brice.  Board members serve three-year terms.  Mayor Eleanor Dorn and Brandy Vaughn (City Council representative/appointee) serve as ex-officio board members.  Greg Tysl goes off the board after serving in numerous leadership positions since the Alliance began, but will continue to serve on the Anderson County Economic Development Board.  Other board members rotating off include Patrick O’Dell, Larandas Yeargin and Tony Saville.

A number of committees have been reinstated and include:

• Organization & Membership:  Dupre Keys (chair), Maynard and Cobb
• Economic Development & Government Relations:  Jan Bratcher (chair), Dorn, Brown, Keys, Mayor Eleanor Dorn and Vaughn
• Outreach-Website & Social Media:  Michelle McCollum (chair), Neel and Cobb
• Branding & Events:  Beth Cobb (chair), McCollum, Brice and Roberts
• Revitalization: Tammy Roberts (chair), Neel, Brown, Brice and members of the Belton Beautification Committee
• Chili Cookoff:  Gene Jameson (chair), Maynard, Lisa Jameson, Eleanor Dorn, Sandra Gaillard, Russell Burgess, Kim Matkins, Richard Dorn Alan Sims and Lori Maness
• Bubblegum Rail Trail:  Michael Gilreath (chair), Jameson, Bratcher, Eleanor Dorn and Greg Tysl
• Nominating:  Rex Maynard (chair), Keys and 2 others TBD
• Anderson County Economic Development Board Appointee:  Greg Tysl

The Board will meet on the third Monday of most months, with committee meetings held at least once per quarter.

The Alliance’s main project over the past several years has been the completion of the Bubblegum Rail Trail which runs along North Main Street from the Belton Library to Leda Poore Park.  The trail was dedicated during a special ceremony in May.

Maynard said:  “As we enter the Belton Alliance’s 10th year we are excited about expanding our efforts to make Belton a great place to live and work.  We especially appreciate Kevin Craft’s leadership as President and his willingness to remain in that position an extra year.  He carried us through the difficult Covid years and led us to the completion of the Bubblegum Rail Trail last May.  Kevin has served on the Alliance Board since we began and he and IMS have been a key part of our efforts.  We also appreciate Greg Tysl, who has also served on the board since the start and was President for three years 2016 through 2018.  We’re glad he will continue as a member of the Bubblegum Rail Trail Committee and as our Anderson County Economic Development Board representative.  A key focus moving forward will be reactivating our committees, with specific goals and plans to reach those goals.  We’ll also be working to expand our membership to more businesses and individuals in the area.  We have a strong, young board and I look forward to working closely with them as well as the City of Belton and Anderson County to accomplish our goals.”

The Belton Alliance is a membership based volunteer organization.  Businesses can join for $75/year, churches and non-profit organizations for $50/year and individuals may join by making a contribution of $25 or more each year.  The Alliance’s purpose is to work with public, private and civic entities to promote tourism, economic growth and qualify of life in the Belton area.