Isler becomes NKY Chamber's seventh woman chair

Geralyn Isler, president of Fort Mitchell-based Business Benefits, a Houchens Insurance Group company, is the new chair of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Board.

Isler becomes the seventh woman to lead the business organization, the NKyTribune reported Monday, Oct. 5. She and her late brother, Gary Beatrice, are the first brother-and-sister pair to both serve as Chamber chair.

"I can help them feel their value since I represent a small business," Isler told the NKyTribune, referring to the Chamber's majority small-business membership. She said membership and attendance at Chamber programs have grown, and she wants that trend to continue during her term.

Isler spent 14 years on the Chamber's Executive Committee, serving as board secretary and board treasurer before stepping into the top volunteer role. She chaired the Chamber's Women's Initiative, served on the Business Advocacy Council and graduated from Leadership NKY in 2007. She has been involved with the Women's Initiative since its first meeting at the former Toyota headquarters in Erlanger.

Her father, George Beatrice, founded Business Benefits in 1984 as the first Northern Kentucky insurance agency to specialize in employee benefits. The NKyTribune describes the firm as one of the largest agencies specializing in group insurance in Greater Cincinnati. Isler has served as its president since 2018.

The firm's footprint is expanding. Bowling Green-based Houchens Insurance Group acquired Business Benefits in a deal that took effect Nov. 1, 2025. Houchens said the acquisition would strengthen its position in the Greater Cincinnati market, and the NKyTribune reported the deal will more than double the firm's reach across Kentucky.

Brent Cooper, the Chamber's president and CEO, called Isler "one of the most accomplished volunteers ever to become Board chair." Cooper said in August that the program year ahead would be his last. He plans to step down to focus on his IT firm, C-Forward.

Under Cooper, Chamber membership grew more than 22 percent.

Isler takes the chair as the organization navigates that leadership transition.