Tara L. Pennington                            
 7112 Courthouse Road  l     Prince George, Va. 23875  l     (804) 920-5769  l  tlpennington@comcast.net 
 
HIGHLIGHTS: 
 
•	Combined six years of proven experience in project planning and execution oversight 
•	Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail and unyielding commitment to excellence 
•	Flexible and adaptive to continuously changing environments 

 
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: 
  
VIRGINIA SOCIETY OF CPAS     					OCTOBER 2007 – PRESENT 
Project Planner 
•	Effectively manages projects, programs and events across multiple departments 
•	Ensures project goals and objectives are met 
•	Plans, monitors and evaluates budgets to boost profits and eliminate waste 
•	Organizes, implements and evaluates online education components offered to CPAs across Virginia 
•	Coordinates project teams to complete objectives of projects at hand 
•	Maintains contacts with team members and online vendors to monitor program processes and performance 
•	Implements the practical/administrative details of projects using Vertabase Project Management Software 
•	Manages and coordinates rental of the classroom space, including working with clients, contacts, scheduling, catering and setup requirements 

Education Coordinator 
•	Effectively utilized time management skills to handle high work volume 
•	Quickly assimilated policies and procedures to contribute immediately with limited supervision 
•	Coordinated and secured speakers for educational seminars and conferences 
•	Proactively identified problems and provided streamlined solutions 
•	Collected conference materials from speakers and worked with writer/editor to develop conference materials 
•	Ordered seminar and conference manuals, tracked delivery and maintained inventory 
•	Provided exceptional customer service by answering education hotline and assisting members with registering for events and answering questions regarding educational products  
•	Maintained customer records in membership database 
•	Processed all education team invoices 
•	Traveled to and administered educational events throughout Virginia 
•	Assisted marketing director with event evaluation  

TLP’S LANDSCAPING      JUNE 2002 – AUGUST 2006 
Business Owner/Operator 
•	Grew business 75 percent annually, on average, by ensuring superior service and job completion, executing targeted marketing campaigns for strategic client generation and employing time management 
•	Managed expenses and created sales budgets to achieve desired growth 
•	Maintained a customer satisfaction rate of 95 percent by effectively listening and instituting an excellent follow-up program 

TECHNICAL SKILLS & SOFTWARE: 
 
•	Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) 
•	Various Adobe products 
•	Vertabase Project Management Software 
•	Database management 
•	SurveyMonkey 
•	Various mechanical equipment 

EDUCATION: 
 
•	Richard Bland College, 1995 – 1997 

REFERENCES: 
 
Stephanie Peters, CAE 
 President and CEO 
 Virginia Society of CPAs 
 speters@vscpa.com  
 (804) 612-9423 
 www.vscpa.com 
 
Brian Dickerson 
 Owner & Operator 
 Dickerson Construction 
 (804) 400-8723 
  
Debbie Nunnally 
 Loss Prevention Supervisor 
 Kohl’s Department Store 
 (804) 909-1944