Samuel DeShazior serves as Akron’s 1 Ward Council representative and is former Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. At the Greater Akron Chamber he served as Senior Director of Business where he and managed an economic development team working on projects ranging from industrial business expansions to international joint venture.
During his years with the Chamber, DeShazior was instrumental in coordinating economic development and urban planning initiatives throughout the region.
For many years now, the City of Akron has taken part in trade shows in Germany to help attract business from Europe to Northeastern Ohio. Sam DeShazior served as chair of the Kunstoff Fair in Düsseldorf in and developed marketing strategies for the Hanover Trade Show.
DeShazior chaired the State of Ohio’s marketing effort at the National Plastics Exposition in Chicago and the Society of Automotive Engineering’s World Congress in Detroit. He served as vice president and chairman of the statewide marketing committee for the Ohio Economic.
Sam served as the 23 Midwestern Regional Vice President and is Chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha Homes.
Sam earned a BA in public relations/marketing from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) and an MA in urban planning/urban economics from the University of Akron. He is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute of the University of Oklahoma.
Sam DeShazior lives in Akron with his wife. They have two children, a daughter in-law and four grandchildren.