SHERMAN, Texas — Emilie Harris is the new president and chief executive officer of the Sherman Chamber of Commerce, according to an announcement the chamber's Board of Directors posted on the organization's Facebook page.
The board delivered the news as its own statement. Board chairman Asa Jessee was quoted in that statement voicing support for Harris and for her leadership of the chamber.
The posted announcement did not include a start date or any compensation terms. The records reviewed for this report do not identify who held the position before Harris, and they do not link the selection to a city vote or a public contract.
The chamber's most recent Form 990 record posted by the Internal Revenue Service, covering tax period 2024, lists five employees and a governing body of 17 voting members. That filing reports revenue of $373,155 against expenses of $384,351. It describes the chamber's mission as joining citizens and businesses to improve and promote the Sherman area.
The chamber spent more than it took in
$373,155
Total revenue reported for tax period 2024.
$384,351
Total expenses reported for the same period, against a staff of five employees and a 17-member governing body.
Source: IRS-posted Form 990 record, Sherman Chamber of Commerce, tax period 2024
Two founding dates sit in the public record. The IRS filing lists the chamber as formed in 1938. The Texas House Journal shows that the House adopted HR 316 on Feb. 6, 2013, honoring the Sherman Chamber of Commerce on the 100th anniversary of its founding. The journal page for that day also records a resolution marking the Denison Area Chamber of Commerce's centennial. Each date is reported here as its own record states it.
Two official records, two founding stories
Formed in 1938
The chamber's most recent Form 990 record lists 1938 as the year of formation.
Centennial marked in 2013
HR 316, adopted Feb. 6, 2013, honored the chamber on the 100th anniversary of its founding.
Source: IRS-posted Form 990 record, tax period 2024; Texas House Journal, Feb. 6, 2013
The City of Sherman's website lists the chamber as a community resource separate from the Sherman Economic Development Corporation. In the city's public resource directory, the chamber contact is listed as Eddie Brown at 307 W. Washington St. That listing does not name Harris.
Chamber work intersects with city budgets in Cooke County as well. A Gainesville city manager's update dated Jan. 16, 2026, states that hotel occupancy tax revenue is used to support the Chamber of Commerce's tourism program, and that fiscal year 2026 contracts had been sent to the entities receiving those funds. That update refers to Gainesville's chamber, not Sherman's.
The records available for this report do not include the wording of Jessee's remarks or a biography for Harris. No chamber news release beyond the board's Facebook statement was located.
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