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In the

business

of helping

businesses Allen Pitner in his office at the Shelbyville-

Bedford County Chamber of Commerce.
Photo by Terence Corrigan.

Allen Pitner reflects on four yeArs As chAmber leAder H story by sAdie fowler

our years ago, Allen pitner made a huge life transition simply, he wanted to be in shelbyville more. “I was 53, and
when he accepted a position as the ceo of the it’s challenging to get hired at that age.”
fshelbyville-bedford county chamber of commerce, walt wood had announced he’d soon be retiring and
moving from a long career in the private sector to serving pitner quickly made the short list of being a prime candidate
the public. to fill the job. well-known throughout the community,
prior to this, pitner served in a management role at pitner is the son of joe and gaynelle pitner, husband of
economy pen and pencil company, his own family’s long-time teacher mary pitner, and father to mike, 27, and
business, a promotional products company and supplier. martha, 26, and brother to David pitner. he graduated from
the business was in the pitner family for 66 years until shelbyville central high school in 1977.
the decision was made to sell it to evans manufacturing in After that, he went on to the university of tennessee
california. where he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees
In his early 50s at the time, pitner said he felt thankful in civil engineering. prior to coming back home to economy
the chamber board took the chance on him, allowing him in 1992, he spent 10 years as a licensed civil engineer in
to serve the community he loves and has called home his both the public and private sectors.
entire life. “A couple people had suggested I apply for the (chamber)
“After we sold economy I worked briefly for an job,” he said. “I understood they would be taking a chance
engineering firm in nashville and it was not a good fit,” he on me. I had no experience running a chamber or non-
said, explaining the job required a lot of travel and, quite profit. but at the end of the day, I think when the board

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