![\"SHP_2603_Kelly](\"https:\/\/memphischamber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/SHP_2603_Kelly202620Madison20Dobbins3.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMeet the Chairman\u2019s Circle: Kelly Dobbins.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As a young person Kelly Dobbins wasn\u2019t sure what she wanted to do with her life.<\/p>\n
She was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, home of the Corvette Museum, \u201cwhich I guess explains my love of Corvettes, even though I\u2019ve never owned one,\u201d said Kelly. She moved here with her family when she was just six months old, \u201cso I\u2019m definitely a Memphis story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She started out studying commercial music at the University of Memphis. But when a professor told her she\u2019d need to be able to repair the music equipment to succeed in the field, she decided to try something else. So she switched her major to criminal justice. She had been working as a bank teller and going to school full time, and she thought she might end up in security with the bank. A job never opened up in that department, so Kelly decided to go back to school for her master\u2019s.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when things started to happen for her. Her supervisor\u2019s nephew was also pursuing his master\u2019s in criminal justice. He suggested Kelly apply for a job with The Justice Network. That organization provides private probation, which helps clients develop constructive behaviors and gives judges and court administrators a cost-effective and viable alternative to incarceration.<\/p>\n
Kelly started as a probation officer and rose through the ranks. \u201cI was the bookkeeper, I wrote operations manuals, did taxes \u2013 there wasn\u2019t anything I didn\u2019t do,\u201d she said. \u201cI learned so much. How to run a business. How to start a nonprofit. My boss was the boss, so I did all the work. It was great.\u201d <\/p>\n
One of the many jobs she did at The Justice Network was drug testing for people on probation. \u201cThere was lots going on in the field \u2013 devices, methodologies were changing. I found myself really interested in it. Then companies started to contact us to do employment drug testing in addition to the criminal justice work we were doing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Justice Network did both criminal justice and employment drug testing for a while, but then Kelly and her boss decided it was time to separate the work. He kept the criminal justice drug testing at The Justice Network, and Kelly formed Mid-South Drug Testing to do drug testing for employers. \u201cMy boss from The Justice Network was very generous and let me take our 11 employment testing clients with me,\u201d she said. \u201cTo this day we refer business back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly opened the first office of Mid-South Drug Testing in Memphis in May 2004. Just four months later, she opened a second office in Paragould to serve her Arkansas clients. Opening two offices in the early months of starting a business \u201cis not something I\u2019d recommend,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty years later those two offices are still open, and the company also has two on-site testing facilities at FedEx. Mid-South Drug Testing has 18 full-time employees, and Kelly is the president. She has a talented team, including her daughter Madison, that she\u2019s grooming to take over the business someday. \u201cPeople can send employees to us for testing, but our real claim to fame is that we come to you, offering 24\/7 on-site drug testing,\u201d said Kelly.<\/p>\n
Kelly is involved in her industry at the national level. She served as president of the board for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association, one of two national industry groups. Last year she spearheaded the merger of that organization with the other national industry group, the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association. Now she is running for election to a seat on the board of that organization.<\/p>\n
When asked about legalizing marijuana, which has been discussed by legislators in Tennessee, Kelly didn\u2019t offer an opinion about whether the drug should be legal. She did, however, say that if marijuana does become legal in any way in Tennessee, there will still need to be a \u201csafety carve-out\u201d for drug testing for certain occupations like pilots, fire fighters, school bus drivers, police officers, forklift drivers and the like. \u201cOur industry group has been working hard to educate legislators about the important of safety carve-outs so they fully understand what proposed bills might mean for businesses in Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n
The national industry group and the Chairman\u2019s Circle are the two organizations she\u2019s decided to focus her energy on. \u201cI\u2019ve been a Chamber member for years,\u201d she said. \u201cAmy Daniels (the Chamber\u2019s chief communications officer) knew about my criminal justice background and my passion for public safety. As a business owner, I\u2019m really concerned. Amy suggested I join the Chairman\u2019s Circle and its public safety accountability committee. That work is so important to Memphis.\u201d The Chairman\u2019s Circle is particularly important to her, she said, because \u201cIf you have a seat at the table, you have a voice. But if you don\u2019t have a seat at the table, you don\u2019t have a voice.\u201d The Chamber and the Chairman\u2019s Circle in particular give investors a voice.<\/p>\n
Kelly focuses her personal energy on serving the community through her work with the homeless. Mid-South Drug Testing supports the Dorothy Day House, which allows homeless families to stay together in housing, and offers nonprofits a reduced rate for drug testing. Her team has taken field trips to tour community organizations like St. Jude and the National Civil Rights Museum so her employees understand the good things happening in Memphis.<\/p>\n
Kelly has two sisters and a brother. She is married to Laurence Dobbins and has two daughters: Madison, who works with Kelly, and Morgan, who lives in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Regarding Memphis, she said, \u201cI\u2019ve always been a Memphis-lover. I always talk great about my city. It\u2019s the people and the hope. We\u2019ve such a diversified community. We\u2019re a small big town. Everybody is connected to everybody else. I went to a local high school, a local college. I started my business here. I want the next generation to stay here and do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
About the Chairman\u2019s Circle: <\/span>The Greater Memphis Chamber Chairman\u2019s Circle is a group of more than 160 C-suite business leaders working to spur economic growth, develop the workforce, and improve the business climate throughout the region. Learn more about the group and its task forces <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> and follow the Chairman\u2019s Circle on <\/span>LinkedIn.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet the Chairman\u2019s Circle: Kelly Dobbins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crsspst_to_memphismovescom":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n