Fenn, President/CEO and Economic Development Director of Jackson County (Ga.) Area Chamber of Commerce, received the Shackelford Alumni Achievement Award, presented annually to alumni who have distinguished themselves professionally and brought honor to the college. Fenn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from LaGrange College in 2000. While at LaGrange, he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi and Phi Gamma Mu, the honor society for social sciences.
In 2013, he represented the college at the inauguration of President Dr. Cheryl Dozier at Savannah State University. He has led in economic development, chamber of commerce work and as a downtown development executive for the last 14 years in Georgia, including tenures in Ware, Dodge and Bryan counties. Over his career he has helped attract more than 1,500 new jobs and $541,957,835 in investment into the communities he has served. His company location work has received awards from The Georgia Economic Developers Association, World Trade 100 Magazine and The American-Israel Chamber of Commerce (now known as Conexx).
When he was 24 in 2002, Fenn was named to Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40-Under-40” list, one of the youngest to receive the honor. He was named one of Savannah’s “rising stars” in the business community by Savannah Morning News in 2012. He is a member of The Southern Economic Development Council where he was co-chairman of the Young Professional Committee and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He also has served on the Georgia Downtown Association Board of Directors and various committees for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, Georgia Economic Developers Association and Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Fenn is a member of the International Economic Development Council, Georgia chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Realtors, Society of Industrial and Official Realtors-Georgia Chapter, Northeast Georgia Regional Commission board of directors, Georgia Economic Developers Association, Braselton Rotary Club, Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, German-American Chamber of Commerce and Japan-American Society. He also is a 2008 graduate of Robins Air Force Base’s Honorary Commander Program, a 2011 graduate of Leadership Southeast Georgia, a member of the Georgia Academy for Economic Development Class of 2002 and Leadership Bryan County graduate Class of 2010.
He is a past member of Canadian American Society of Georgia, Georgia Downtown Association board of directors and Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s government affairs committee, as well as a past advisory board member for Rural Economic Development Center at East Georgia College. A native of Atlanta, and graduate of Wayne County (Ga.) High School in Jesup, he lives in Jackson County. Georgia’s oldest private institution of higher learning, LaGrange College is consistently ranked among the South’s top colleges by U.S. News & World Report. A four-year liberal arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, LaGrange offers 60 areas of study with an emphasis on global engagement and service.