Big Four of Finance and Administration: Millsaps, Hayslett, Yakimowich and Tinker. Photo by Tish Calitz.

The stereotypical image of an accounting department is an all-male domain of staid number crunchers, but the members of the Chamber's finance and administration department break the mold. Their work is more about people than pennies and there's not a man on the staff. Cheryl Millsaps, Vice President of the department, supervises accounting, facilities management, human resources, payroll, employee benefits and information technology. “I love the variety of it,”Millsaps says. “There are no typical days."

From reporting a flickering fluorescent light panel to researching employee insurance plans to interviewing job candidates, Millsap’s mix of responsibilities makes her a haberdasher's dream. And that's not to mention the time she devotes to one-on-one counseling with employees about
everything from the wisdom of transferring to another department to the social services the company insurance provides family members.

A summa cum laude graduate of Bryan College,Millsaps has been at the Chamber since 2003. “I'm definitely bottom-line oriented," she says. "But here I have the opportunity to be engaged in the human side of the operation. That's something I like very much."

LeAnn Tinker, director of information technology, answers questions about PCs, trains employees and fixes equipment. She also helps frustrated co-workers with computer anger management and at the same time shows no condescension to lowtechies whose unplugged mouse is at fault for their frozen keyboards.

Tinker, who joined the Chamber three years ago, learned to program by using a punch card machine when her father, an electrician, took her to work with him. “How technology affects business is just amazing to me,” she says.

It’s up to accountant Yolonda Hayslett and accounting assistant Stacy Yakimowich to handle the Chamber’s finances. Hayslett, who joined the Chamber in 2005, handles duties ranging from accounts receivable to journal entries and account analysis to -- and this, of course, is the staff favorite -- payroll and benefits administration. Infinitely patient with employees who have benefits issues, she always has a ready smile for the staffer who reminds her that pay day is tomorrow. "I want my paycheck too," Hayslett replies with a laugh.

Accounts payable, billing, cash receipts, journal entries, ordering office supplies and minor auditing all fall under Yakimowich's jurisdiction. So efficient she can seemingly replenish paper clips and staples the instant a request is submitted, she also knows a promptly cut expense check makes for a happy Chamber camper.

Yakimowich calls her interest in accounting “natural.” Early on, she used ledger books to keep track of her credit card spending and later her in-laws hired her as a bookkeeper. Hayslett, who holds a
bachelor’s degree in accounting and master's in business administration from UTC, sampled computer engineering and communications before settling on her major.

Hayslett hopes someday to open her own business, offering other small businesses office support. Yakimowich, who has an associate's degree in electrical and electronic engineering technology from
Chattanooga State, is working on a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. Her goal is to become an internal auditor.

Like Yakimowich, Tinker is working on her bachelor's degree -- in her case, through the Aspire Program at Bryan College.

Millsaps points out that over the past year the Chamber staff averaged more than 30 hours of formal continuing professional education for each person. "The Chamber’s investment in employee training and education pays huge dividends in making sure our staff is equipped to operate at the same professional level our members expect from their own employees," she says.

Yakimowich joined the Chamber four years ago because she likes working in the nonprofit field and the downtown environment. Hayslett says she was enthusiastic about helping small businesses and contributing to the economic development of Chattanooga.

“And the free leftover food from all the Chamber events," she says with a smile. "You can’t beat that."