South Alabama Times

Meet our Speaker and Entertainer for our "Champions in Business" annual Chamber Banquet.

We are excited to bring you an ESPY type awards night celebrating our "Champions in Business". Doors will open at 5:00pm for networking time. Connect with your fellow business people over hors d'oeuvres, listening to music, or playing cornhole. Have blast trying out the 360 Photo Booth and enjoy the beautiful Hall of Fame atmosphere.

At 7:00pm dinner will be served followed by our Awards Presentation Ceremony. The Speaker of the evening will be Andalusia native, Bert Bean of Insight Global and we will end the evening with entertainment from a Harlem Wizard performer.

Key Note Speaker, BERT BEANCEO | Insight Global

As CEO of Insight Global, Bert leads a team of more than 4,000 employees across 66 offices in the U.S. and Canada, employing more than 30,000 consultants and serving over 3,000 customers.  Bert is a 17-year veteran of the staffing industry and began his career at Insight Global as a recruiter.  Since being named CEO in 2018, Bert’s relentless focus on growing people personally, professionally, and financially has led to strong success, doubling the size of the company to $4B in revenue. Through his leadership, Insight Global’s business has expanded to include the creation of Insight Global Health and Compass, which aids clients in company cultural transformation, leadership development, and talent management strategy. He also transformed Insight Global’s vision and accelerated its commitment to social equity. With this commitment, Insight Global hired its first director of DE&I to create a division that solely focuses on the implementation of diverse practices for employees and clients. In 2022, Bert spearheaded ensuring access to free mental health counseling services for all employees. Insight Global is an industry-leading talent solutions company and has been named a Best Place to Work for Women by Fortune for four years running.

Dwayne "Swoop" SimpsonHarlem Wizards, Former Harlem Globetrotter

         The essence of what Dwayne “Swoop” Simpson brings to show basketball is his zany humor, crazy antics, and exuberant high jinks.  Have your stomachs ready for exercise and raucous laughter, Wizards fans, because Swoop is returning for his seventh Wizards season and is ready to make you have belly laughs all night long!      There are some special individuals that get their nicknames from their ability to fly through the air. Such is the case with Dwayne “Swoop” Simpson.  Reminiscent of Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins, a former Wizards legend, NBA Hall of Famer, and quintessential long-armed, long-legged basketball player, Swoop was given his nickname from his high-school coach for his ability to soar and dunk the ball from long distances.   Hailing from New Brunswick, New Jersey, Swoop excelled on the basketball court during his time at St. Peter’s High School. In fact, he was selected to the Middlesex County All-Star Team and in his senior year in 1996, his squad made it all the way to the State Championship game.  Unfortunately, in what Swoop calls the biggest disappointment of his playing career, St. Peter’s lost in a nail biter to perennial powerhouse, St. Anthony’s, coached by Hall of Famer, Bob Hurley.  Despite this setback, Swoop went on to star at Southern Connecticut State University, where he was a part of the 1997 New England Conference Championship that made it all the way to the Elite Eight of the Division II National Tournament.  Back then, Dwayne was a serious-minded “lunch pail player” who did all of the intangibles necessary to make his team win.  Undoubtedly, Swoop did not take the traditional path in becoming a show basketball star. As a Computer Science major, Dwayne worked as a Technical Support Specialist and as an Intern at ESPN before making his debut with the Harlem Rockets in 2000.  The Harlem Rockets are a comedic basketball team that specializes in supporting fundraisers for schools, charities and civic organizations and it provided Swoop with the experience necessary to learn the tricks of the trade.  But in 2003, the time was right for Swoop to move on and do what many basketball showmen dream of; play for the Harlem Globetrotters.  Swoop described his experiences with the Globetrotters as bittersweet.  While he enjoyed the travel to 50 countries and the effect that he had on the children, he craved the flexibility that would allow him to further utilize his innate ability to entertain. Consequently, in 2007, Swoop reached out to Wizards President, Todd Davis and expressed that he wanted to find an opportunity that gave him more freedom to use his creativity to keep the crowds on their feet and coming back for more. Hundreds of thousands of smiles later, the Wizards have a budding show basketball star on their hands and crowds across the world are delighted by that fact.Swoop has been a major force in the Wizards’ growth.  He has seen tremendous development in the players he has mentored and coached, much in the same way that Wizards’ legends “Tojo” Henderson and “Broadway” Jones guided him when he joined the team.  What pleases Swoop the most are the everyday accomplishments that come with being a member of the Wizards. “Being able to make people happy through my love of basketball is a dream come true for me. Knowing that you’re doing something positive and expressing to kids that they should lead a positive life makes the Wizards experience the ideal fit for my talents.” Long term, Dwayne hopes to inspire children in the same way he does as a Wizards player by getting his teacher’s license and becoming a teacher, coach, and mentor.For now, Dwayne wants to continue to devote 100% of his efforts to making the Wizards show an even better one than in years past. Dwayne said, “The show is entirely revamped and funnier than ever.” Keeping in mind that Dwayne has used outrageous props, creative gimmicks, hilarious visual comedy, and impressive trickery in years past, Wizards fans are sure to be laughing all night long when they watch Swoop perform Trick-Hoops and Alley-Oops. Don’t get duped by Swoop! 

It will be an evening you will not want to miss! 

Email laura@andalusiachamber.com to reserve your table or purchase tickets.

Original source can be found here.