Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey has been honored by a local chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade as the International Person of the Year.
Starkey received her award at the Annual Scholarship & International Person of the Year Awards Dinner, at the Tampa Yacht Club in Tampa, on Oct. 26, according to a news release from the Pasco Economic Development Council.
The trade organization advocates for women in international business. The Tampa Bay Chapter, one of more than 30 chapters worldwide, was formed in 1997.
The board of directors chose Starkey for her leadership in “the promotion of international business, trade and education within the Tampa Bay community,” the organization’s president, Christyna Doege, said in a written statement.
Starkey traces her passion for international trade through her family’s history.
“My mother was raised in the Philippines, where our family once traded in hemp and copra,” said Starkey during her acceptance speech. “My stepfather was an international armaments distributor, and my aunt was an importer of goods from the Philippines.”
Starkey is co-founder of the AmSkills program, which operates in Pasco, Pinellas and Hernando counties.
AmSkills is a Tampa Bay initiative that aids high school students, adults and veterans seeking manufacturing jobs. The export alliance is a cooperative partnership of Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation, Pinellas Economic Development and Pasco EDC.
Starkey also supports the Tampa Bay Export Alliance.
Additionally, Starkey helped launch the International Program at the Pasco EDC, and has been chairwoman of the International Committee since 2016.
The committee develops strategies, alliances, resources and programs to increase export sales from Pasco, create jobs through foreign investments, and make Pasco business competitive in international markets.
“We are so appreciative of all of her efforts and are ecstatic to see her honored for all of her hard work,” said Bill Cronin, president and chief executive officer of the Pasco EDC.
Published November 8, 2017
