Clay Electric Foundation Board of Trustees

Kathy Barrow is the Vice President of the Foundation Board. She is a retired educator from the Clay County Public Schools and has been a member of the co-op for 53 years. Kathy spent many summers on lake property in Keystone Heights growing up, and chose to raise her family there after attending Young Harris College and the University of Georgia. She earned an MS degree in counseling at the University of North Florida, and worked for many years in elementary education in Clay County.
Since retiring in 2006, Kathy has volunteered at Lake Area Ministries, a local food bank that feeds 15,000+ people annually. Kathy and her husband, Henry, have been married for 48 years, and they are charter members of the Keystone United Methodist Church. They have two children and five grandchildren.

Wayne McClain is vice president for the Beck Automotive Group in Palatka. He enjoyed a successful career with such companies as Mobil Oil Corporation, Miller Brewing Company and the largest Toyota distributor in the world (JM Family Enterprises). Wayne is also a former teacher and school principal.
Wayne has spoken to many groups on customer and employee loyalty, as well as community involvement. He is a native Floridian from Jacksonville, Florida. Wayne earned a BS degree from Florida State University and an MBA with honors from the University of North Florida.

A native of Florida, Reggie Brown was raised on a family vegetable farm in Eastern Alachua County. Mr. Brown has earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with High Honors and a Master of Science in Agriculture from the University of Florida.

Mr. Brown served with the United States Marine Corps from 1969-1971 after which his professional career started as an instructor of Horticulture at the Haywood Technical Institute in Clyde, North Carolina. In 1974 he became a Multi-County Agent for the Florida Cooperative Extension Service in Vegetable Crops/Horticulture for five years based in Seminole County and after two years in agricultural related sales became the Collier County Extension Director/Vegetable Extension Agent for seven years in Southwest Florida. He began employment with the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association as Director of the Marketing & Membership Division in 1989. Mr. Brown held this position for eleven years during which time he managed grower’s exchanges for peppers, sweet corn, radish, and other commodities.

Mr. Brown was hired as Executive Vice President of the Florida Tomato Exchange in September 1999 and served as Executive Vice President of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and as o the Manager of the Florida Tomato Committee. He has been involved throughout the evolution of the Tomato Suspension Agreement and as well as the establishment of the NAFTA based Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC). He was actively engaged in the development of the Florida T-GAP program for fresh tomatoes, United Fresh Food Safety Harmonization effort as well as the Food Safety Programs and Auditing Protocol for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain. He retired in 2018 and currently resides in Gainesville.

Mr. Brown is currently serving on the Board of the Clay Electric Foundation, the Wedgworth Leadership Institute Advisory Board and the IFAS SHARE Council. Mr. Brown was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2021 for his service to Florida Agriculture.

John Roberts of Gainesville represents District 4. He is a commercial lender at SouthState Bank and has been a member of the cooperative all his life.
John has lived most of his professional career in Alachua County working on agriculture and commercial lending with several banks. He and his wife, Nicole, have four children and are very active in their children's activities, the Gainesville community and their church.

Pam Whittle is a native of Florida and Bradford County.  Pam is the President/CEO of North Central Regional chamber of commerce. Pam promotes the value of the Chamber membership to the business community, and advances the image of NFRCC in the region by helping businesses in the region via resources and activities. She is part of the team CareerSource North Central Florida connecting employers with qualified, skilled talent and Floridians with employment and career development opportunities. Pam works with the Bradford County Development Authority to assist in keeping Bradford County in front of site selectors, expanding businesses and businesses looking to relocate to the region.

Joe is currently a chief with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and has been in law enforcement for 19 years. He was raised in Clay County and has been involved in coaching youth sports for many years; he is currently working with Clay High School and a club wrestling program. He is a member of First Baptist Middleburg.
Joe graduated from Orange Park High School and has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has committed his life to service of others.
Joe is married to his wife Amy and has two boys. He enjoys spending time with family and hunting.

Bobbie Gaston is retired from the banking industry. She has been a member of Clay Electric for more than 10 years.
Bobbie worked as assistant branch manager for two different banks in her early career before serving as the vice president and loan operations manager at Florida Citizens Bank from 1997-2016. She spent a year as loan operations supervisor and secondary mortgage lending at Drummond Bank before retiring in 2017. Bobbie is currently a part-time bookkeeper for Kennedy Boyer SR.
Bobbie attended Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Ga. She is the treasurer of the Williston First Baptist Church, where she also sings in the choir. She is married to Levin Gaston.

Dennis is a life-long resident of Salt Springs. He will retire from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in August 2017 after 30 years of employment. In his last 12 years with the Sheriff’s Office, he has served as the District Commander of the Northeast District, which is headquartered in Salt Springs. As a District Commander, his primary duty was to establish community contacts in both the public and private sectors.
He is an active member of the First Baptist Church of Salt Springs, where he serves in numerous leadership roles. He and his wife, Kristy, have two grown children and two grandsons, and are expecting their first granddaughter in September 2017. His hobbies include hunting and fishing.