Chamber announces new board members

Posted by Press Release on January 8, 2016

The Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce (SCCCC) has announced four new members on its board of directors.

The appointments of Michele Berardi of Kendal-Crosslands Communities, Gail Chase of WSFS Bank, Margarita Garcia-Taylor of Garcia-Taylor Insurance Company, and Timothy A. Moore of Exelon Nuclear are effective immediately.

“The addition of these talented professionals to the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors continues a tradition of having stellar leadership guiding our chamber,” SCCCC President and CEO Cheryl Kuhn said in a press release. “Their varied experience and vast knowledge of our community will serve the chamber and its growing membership well,” Kuhn said.

Berardi is the director of community outreach for Kendal-Crosslands Communities. She has more than 30 years of business experience in various industries. For almost 15 years, she worked in a variety of area retirement communities and has educated numerous older adults and their families about the various options for retirement living. Berardi is a frequent speaker at many religious, civic, social, and universities on senior living topics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Immaculata University.

Chase is vice president and manager of the Kennett Square branch of WSFS Bank, a Wilmington-based financial institution operating under the same name since 1832. Chase has served the greater Southern Chester County region with WSFS, the seventh oldest bank in the country, for five years. In her time managing the Kennett Square office, deposits increased by nearly $30 million. Chase is active in the community and serves on the board of the Kennett Run Charities and has been a member of the Lions Club of Kennett Square for more than 20 years.

Garcia-Taylor is owner and president of Garcia-Taylor Insurance Agency, Inc., located in Oxford. She began her career with Allstate. After several years, she moved to an independent agency and gained knowledge of the commercial insurance segment. She then joined Nationwide and quickly gained expertise in the complex agribusiness insurance industry, becoming one of the first agents to earn the Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist (AFIS) designation in 2007. Garcia-Taylor took her talents to Erie Insurance prior to realizing an opportunity with Nationwide that resulted in her purchasing the Garcia-Taylor Insurance Agency in 2012.

Moore is the vice president of fleet support for Exelon Nuclear, located in Kennett Square. He has more than 30 years of experience in the electric power generation business and has held a variety of leadership positions related to the safe operation of Exelon’s nuclear power plants. Moore has engineering degrees from both Penn State University and Widener University, and also earned an MBA from Widener University.