Ashton Houston and Breanna Wilson, the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce’s newest employees, are helping Plant City businesses succeed.
As Plant City attempts to bring in more young entrepreneurs, its business scene is also getting younger behind the scenes.
Ashton Houston and Breanna Wilson, the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce’s newest employees, are bringing millennial perspectives to the job. Fresh out of college, both Strawberry Crest High School alumnae started at the chamber in late 2016 and have been hard at work ever since.
ASHTON HOUSTON
Houston, born and raised in Plant City, is no stranger to community involvement.
While at Strawberry Crest, she was a member of FFA, the Beta Club and the National Honor Society. At the University of South Florida, where she majored in marketing, Houston was a member of the Kappa Delta sorority.
In college, though, she didn’t immediately see herself returning to Plant City. She considered moving to New York City or Los Angeles to work in advertising, but later changed her mind.
“I decided to stay here, stay local (and) gain experience,” Houston said. “I enjoy being around my family, and the small atmosphere of Plant City is nice.”
Houston’s job at the chamber ended up being her first out of college. She was the first of the two new employees to start, coming aboard in September 2016. She keeps busy as the chamber’s office coordinator, heading Plant City Leadership, and as a board member of Rise Plant City, a group dedicated to bringing young professionals into town and keeping them around long-term.
“I was really excited about the opportunity … I’ve loved being here ever since,” Houston said.
Houston was also put in charge of the chamber’s ambassador program. That program, which predates her time at the chamber, gets current members linked up with newer ones in order to help them get acclimated with and feel welcome in Plant City. At the moment, she oversees 30 ambassadors.
“I look at the ambassadors and see what their backgrounds are, and see if they’re going to be a good fit for a business,” Houston said. “Say someone owns a construction business and is an ambassador, and a new person that does roofing joins the chamber — I’ll pair them up together because they already have something in common … so it would be easier for them to click.”
BREANNA WILSON
Wilson, who also attended Strawberry Crest, was a member of the National Honor Society and the school’s International Baccalaureate program’s first-ever graduating class. While at Florida Southern College, Wilson majored in business administration with concentrations in marketing and communications, and minored in religion.
She also worked part-time at Ag America Lending, an agriculture-focused lending firm similar to Farm Credit, but privately owned.
Her husband, Michael, who owns Dark Horse Music Store, was the one who first floated the idea of joining the chamber’s staff.
“We were talking one night,” Wilson said. “He said, ‘You should apply at the Chamber,’ just off-hand one day.”
A few months later, Wilson said, there was an opening for a communications coordinator. She applied, interviewed and got the job, which she started in October 2016. In her current role, Wilson manages all social media accounts and creates the monthy Chamber Conenctions newsletter.
“I think the coolest side of it is being behind the scenes,” Wilson said. “I’ve attended Pig Jam before, but I’ve never ran Pig Jam before. Seeing all the different stakeholders work together to build that sense of community is really neat.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
