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Chris Blankenship, Commissioner

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Chris Blankenship is the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), appointed by Governor Kay Ivey in May of 2017. He has been with DCNR since 1994, when he joined the department as a Conservation Enforcement Officer in the Marine Resources Division.

Chris serves on many boards and commissions and is Chairman of the Forever Wild Land Trust Board and Chairman of the Innovate Alabama Council on Outdoor Recreation. Chris also previously served as a member of the Board of Control of the Employees Retirement System of Alabama.

Having been integrally involved in the state’s response to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill from the beginning, Chris has a solid background for the oil spill recovery and restoration work he handles as Governor Ivey’s appointed designee, overseeing all the DWH funding allocated directly to the state of Alabama.

He has been happily married to Allyson Blankenship for 33 years and has three adult children. He is a native of Dauphin Island, Alabama, and currently resides in Montgomery, Alabama.

Lindsay Cline, Director of Strategic Partnerships

U.S. Navy Maritime Industrial Base

Lindsay Cline knows that success doesn’t always come with a straight path—and she’s living proof that your past does not define your future. After dropping out of high school, she went on to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. At 43 years old, she was awarded her high school diploma—proof that it’s never too late to finish what you started.

Today, Lindsay serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the U.S. Navy Maritime Industrial Base, where she helps lead national and trilateral efforts to strengthen the workforce behind submarine and ship production. Before that, she was the President of Education for Phillips Corporation, where she built and expanded manufacturing training programs around the world.

Lindsay has spent her entire career focused on connecting people to purpose—especially in skilled trades and manufacturing. Her work opens doors for those ready to work hard, learn fast and build meaningful careers, no matter where they started.

Dr. Joshua R. Hendrickson, Chair

Department of Economics, University of Mississippi

Dr. Joshua R. Hendrickson is a professor of economics and chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Mississippi. Hendrickson’s research focuses on the intersection of monetary theory and political economy. He is a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research’s Sound Money Project, a Senior Affiliate Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. He also serves on the board of the Mississippi Council on Economic Education.

Tami Reist, President/CEO

Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association

During her more than three-decade long career in the tourism and travel industry, Tami has lived by the theme expressed by the famous American heroine Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” This theme is carried forth in all her speaking engagements across the country and has had proven results in her professional accomplishments.

Tami is the President/CEO of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA). Her duties include planning, implementing, directing and evaluating all promotional programs as well as overall development of the tourism and travel industry within the 16 northernmost counties of the state of Alabama. The region currently generates more than $4.7 billion in travel expenditures on an annual basis.

Tami’s responsibilities also include strengthening and expanding the membership base of AMLA, a not-for-profit organization that is supported by 500-plus members consisting of Chambers of Commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, attractions, vendors, financial institutions and individuals. Counties included within the AMLA region are Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, Dekalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston.

Tami is a board member for a number of tourism and travel related and civic organizations including: Governor Appointee to the Scenic Bylaws Committee, Main Street Alabama, Southeast Tourism Society Legislative Council, Alabama Travel Council of Association Executives, Alabama Association of Destination Marketing Organizations and numerous other local and state travel related groups. Tami is also an instructor at the Southeast Tourism Society’s Marketing College and has been a contributing presenter to the tourism and travel field of study at Mississippi State University. Among her many recognitions are the ATHENA Leadership Award from the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, the Alabama Travel Council Partnership Award, the Southeast Tourism Dorothy Hardman Spirit Award, inductee into the Alabama Tourism Hall of Fame, inductee into the Morgan County Leadership Hall of Fame and This is Alabama, Birmingham magazine’s Women Who Shape the State honoree, a “Women of Impact” award recipient from Yellowhammer News/Yellowhammer Multimedia, a 2021 graduate of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a leadership and economic development program sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission,and was named 2024 Tourism Promoter of the Year from the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association.

During her career, Tami has served as the President/CEO of the Decatur-Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau; as Project Manager and General Manager of Courtyard by Marriott-Decatur, AL; Regional Manager for Hampton and Country Inn & Suites by Carlson-Decatur and Florence, AL and as General Manager and Project Coordinator of the Amberley Suite Hotel – Decatur, AL.

Tami’s interests include interior design, flying with her husband, traveling and spending time with her grandchildren.

Dr. Loren C. Scott, President

Loren C. Scott & Associates, Inc.

Dr. Scott is the President of Loren C. Scott & Associates, Inc., a 43-year old economic consulting firm whose clients include such large national firms as BP, BellSouth, Capital One Financial, Entergy, ExxonMobil, J.P. Morgan Chase, Nucor, Sasol and a diversity of others. He is one of the 50-member National Business Economic Issues Council, which meets quarterly to discuss issues of state, national and international interest. This group has experts who cover international trade, Washington economic policy, retail trade, trucking, steel, chemicals and more. Dr. Scott is an energy specialist on the NBEIC. He has been interviewed on CNBC, MSNBC and Bloomberg TV, in addition to several local TV stations, and his work has been cited in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, USA Today and the Financial Times, to name a few. His career started at Louisiana State University in 1969 where he spent the next 33 years, rising through the ranks from Assistant Professor to the prestigious Freeport McMoran Endowed Chair of Economics and the Director of the Division of Economic Development and Forecasting. Over the thirteen-year period from 1983-96, he was the chairman of the Economics Department at LSU. During that time, the Department’s ranking among the 3,000 economics departments in the U.S. rose from 101st to 38th. He is presently Professor Emeritus at LSU. He gives 50+ speeches each year on the state of the economy.

Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director

Soy Transportation Coalition

Mike Steenhoek is Executive Director of the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), an initiative established in 2007 and comprised of the United Soybean Board, the American Soybean Association and fourteen state soybean boards. The Soy Transportation Coalition exists to promote a cost effective, reliable and competitive transportation system that serves the agriculture industry.

As executive director of the STC, Mike’s responsibilities include communicating the initiative and the importance of transportation issues to soybean growers and processors, establishing and executing the organization’s strategic direction and building collaborations with other affected industries.

Mike is a member of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Freight Advisory Council – currently serving as Chairman.

Prior to his work on the STC, Mike worked for United States Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa) for eight years – both in Washington, DC, and most recently in Des Moines, Iowa. In Washington, DC, Mike served as the Senator’s scheduler and frequent speechwriter. In Des Moines, Mike served as Senator Grassley’s Director of Economic Development.

Mike received both his undergraduate degree and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Iowa.