Quad Cities First
Tara Barney is President/CEO of DavenportOne, a 1,200 member organization encompassing the Chamber of Commerce for Davenport, Iowa, as well as serving as an economic development and downtown redevelopment entity for Davenport. She supervises a staff of 23 and reports to a 37 member Board of Directors comprised of CEO's representing all sectors of business. DavenportOne was recently named Chamber of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.
In her previous position as Senior Vice President, Downtown Partnership, Tara led the downtown Davenport revitalization and development initiatives from August 2002 to February 2007. The Downtown Partnership is responsible for administration of the Downtown BID and for the judicious use of the voluntarily levied real estate tax increment within the district
Tara received her B.A. in Public Administration from Miami University in 1974, and her MPA from Ohio State University in 1976. She was the recipient of the School of Business Administration Pace Setter Award. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Figge Art Museum, the Scott County YMCA and Davenport Rotary.
Tara resides in Davenport, Iowa. Her daughter, Jordan, recently received her Masters Degree from the University of Florida. Jake, her son, is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota in the Geography Department.
Joe B. Slavens was born on July 27, 1964 and is a 1982 graduate of Bettendorf High School. Joe graduated with Highest Distinction from the University of Iowa College of Business Administration in 1985 with a double major in Economics and Finance. After college, Joe worked as a commercial real estate credit analyst at a major Chicago bank. Joe entered law school in 1986 and the University of Iowa College of Law conferred upon him with High Distinction the degree of Juris Doctor in 1988.
Upon graduation from law school, Joe joined Northwest Bank & Trust Company as Internal Legal Counsel. Since he joined the bank he has served various positions including management of the trust department and loan division. Joe was named President of the Bank in April 1999 and CEO in 2002. Joe has served on the Bank's Board of Directors since shortly after joining the Bank and now serves as its chair. Joe is also the President of Northwest Investment Corp., the Bank's holding company, and chairs its Board of Directors.
Joe is Board Chair of the Quad City Development Group, serves as treasurer, director, Executive Committee member and Audit Committee Chair of the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, is a member of the Board of Governors for the Wildwood Hills Ranch for at-risk youth and the Board of Directors for Zea Capital Fund, Inc., an Iowa based venture capital fund. He is a member of St. James Lutheran Church, Davenport Rotary, and the Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities Chambers of Commerce.
Joe resides in Bettendorf, Iowa with his wife, Ann, and their three children, Emily (20), Shelby (18) and Bobbie (15).
Rick Baker is the President/CEO of the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce and Co-President of Quad Cities First, the region's new business attraction organization. He began his career in chamber management in 1988 in Rochester, MN later moving to Newton, IA where he served as President/CEO for three years before accepting his current position in March of 1994.
Rick is a 1995 graduate of the University of Colorado Institute for Organization Management, an active member of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, Board member for the Illinois State Chamber Political Action Committee, past Chairman of the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (IACCE), Member of the Emerging Technologies Committee of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and former Board member of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce.
Locally, Rick is Chairman of the Rock Island Community Foundation, Past Chairman of the Board of Directors for Robert Young Center for Community Mental Health and serves as a Board member for the Workforce Development Board, Adler Theater Foundation, Quad City Botanical Center, and New Ventures Center.
Rick is a native of Minnesota and a graduate of Upper Iowa University.