Capital Rotary Club

Our speaker on Wednesday morning April 8th was Dr. Bob Sneider, Executive Director of The COMET, the Central Midlands Transit organization. Dr. Sneider earned his Ph.D. in Political Science and his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee. Prior to that, he earned a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Political Science and History from Western Carolina University.  Prior to The Comet, Bob worked as General Manager of ValleyRide in Boise, Idaho – while he also served as Adjunct Professor in Political Science at Boise State University.  From 2005 through 2007, Bob served as Chief Operating Officer at Knoxville Area Transit.

According to The Comet website, here’s just some of what’s in store for the near future:

• Real-time bus locators, free Wi-Fi and apps
• As many as 30 more routes people want to ride
• New park-and-ride and limited-stop express services
• A new downtown circulation system
• New rural transit systems
• Creating a 100% alternative fuel fleet

For more information about COMET, please visit: http://catchthecomet.org

Mike Montgomery (second from left) and Perry Lancaster (far right) have been admitted to membership in Columbia’s Capital Rotary Club. Their sponsors were David Boucher (left) and Jenks Mikell (second from right). Montgomery, in private law practice since 1985, is a University of South Carolina graduate and was formerly in Spring Valley Rotary, where he was honored as the top fund-raiser for 2009. He’s also been a school board member for Richland District Two, served on Richland County Council, was a district chairman for Boy Scouts and is on the board of the Columbia City Ballet. He’s married to the former Victoria Ann Jakes and the couple has three grown children. Lancaster has worked at Brittons of Columbia (men’s and women’s fine clothing and furnishings) for 40 years, where he’s been active in community outreach and support for local charitable organizations. He attended Irmo High School and is married to Stacy Levinson

Our speaker on Wednesday morning March 11^th was Ms. Karen Brosius, Executive Director of the Columbia Museum of Art.  Karen began her tenure with the Museum in early 2004 and came to the museum from Altria Group, Inc., New York, New York, where her most recent position there was Director of Media Relations. She has served as a senior philanthropic, arts, and communications executive at the company.

Her 21 years with Altria — parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris — included tenures as Director of Corporate Affairs and Director of Corporate Contributions and Public Affairs. Prior to Altria, Ms. Brosius served as Public Affairs Officer for The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York and as Researcher for Research Foundation of the City of New York.  Ms. Brosius received a master’s degree, from City University of New York, Hunter College. She also attended the Juilliard School of Music; Ecoles d’Arts Americaines, Fontainebleau, France; Bryn Mawr, Avignon, France; and Butler University, Indiana.

Our speaker on Wednesday morning January 25th was author Andra Watkins.  She will be discussing her book, To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis. Andra lives in Charleston with her husband Michael T. Maher.

A non-practicing CPA, she has a degree in accounting from Francis Marion University. Andra is the author of three books and counting. Her acclaimed first novel To Live Forever was published by Word Hermit Press on March 1, 2014. Another of her books, Natchez Trace: Tracks in Time is a book of photography, shot during her 15-mile daily hikes on her 444-mile Natchez Trace walk.

Our speaker on Wednesday morning was Mr. Bill Mahoney, CEO of SCRA.  Bill Mahoney is the CEO of SCRA and has held this post since August, 2005. Since assuming leadership, SCRA annual revenues from its applied research and commercialization services operations have grown from $74M to over $266M. In this same timeframe, SCRA annual year-end backlog has grown from $93M to $533M, annual net revenues have set company records of up to 7.9%, and total contract value under management has grown from $235M to over $2.1B.

Bill is a Harvard graduate and former member of both the Harvard Crew and the US National Rowing Team. Bill and his wife, Paula, have been married for 34 years and have two adult sons, one a US Navy officer and one a professional baseball player.