NFIB is proud to announce a new Member Support Manager for New Mexico.
“We struck gold in finding Melissa Keckler to be our Member Support Manager for New Mexico,” said Daniel Markels, NFIB’s regional State Public Policy director. “She brings to this job not only association experience, but also a wealth of lobbying and political experience as well. All three of these components are vital to the execution of the job, which is why her experience towered above all other applicants.”
A graduate of Arizona State University, Keckler most recently had been a director of government relations (Mario E. Diaz & Associates), political campaign consultant and lobbyist (Riester Public Affairs Corporation) and government relations coordinator (Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs). Included in those roles were campaign management of numerous state ballot initiatives and local elective offices.
As NFIB’s Member Support Manager, Keckler will be responsible for the development and maintenance of a strong network of small-business activists for the purpose of implementing NFIB’s state and federal programs and initiatives. She will be working extensively with NFIB/New Mexico’s leadership council on a variety of lobbying, public relations and election activities.
Keckler will also be the Member Support Manager for Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. She replaces Anthony K. Smith who became NFIB’s state director Oregon.
“The appeal of this job was the opportunity to use my skills to advance the most important group of people in the nation: Small-business owners,” said Keckler. “They are not only the people who give most of us our first jobs, who are the nation’s largest job-generators, who will take a second and third chance with an employee that corporations wouldn’t give the time of day to, they are also the central pillar holding up every community in the nation. This job gives me the honor of serving them.”
Keckler’s organizational and community involvement include membership on the Chandler and Phoenix chambers of commerce, Alpha Kappa Psi Alumni, ICAN, which helps at-risk youth with learning, and the Save the Cheetah Foundation. She is a passionate Sun Devil supporter and avid cook.
Say hello to Melissa by email here.
