Chris Hardie has been the CEO of the 7 Rivers Alliance - a regional economic development that serves Western Wisconsin, Northeast Iowa and Southwest Minnesota - since Sept. 2017. He was the executive director of the Black River Area Chamber of Commerce from 2015-17 and spent more than 30 years in the newspaper industry as a reporter, editor, and publisher. He is a past president of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and has received numerous state and national journalism awards, including being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001. He still writes an occasional column, is a published author and with his wife Sherry own and operate Brambleberry Winery in West Salem, WI. He lives in rural Jackson County, WI.