Carrie A. Hurt, President/CEO
Carrie A. Hurt is President/CEO of BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. She is the visionary leader who has grown BBB to one of the largest membership organizations in Texas. Carrie joined the Austin BBB team in 1995 as Communications Director and was named Vice President in 1998. In March 2003, Carrie was named President and CEO by the Board of Directors. Under her leadership, BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin has undergone four mergers and increased its service area from 11 to 79 counties. BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin is geographically the largest BBB in the state and now boasts more than 9,500 Accredited Business locations, making it the 2nd fastest-growing in the BBB system.
Carrie has served on committees for the Texas Residential Construction Commission and was appointed in 2008 by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples to the GO TEXAN Partner Program (GOTEPP) advisory board. Carrie is a native Texan and attended Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University. After graduating with a degree in Communications, she began her broadcasting career at KHOU-TV in Houston. Carrie later moved to Beaumont, Texas and began reporting and anchoring for KJAC-TV. She won several awards for her work from the local press club including Best Investigative Reporting. She interviewed many luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey, Susan Lucci, Dan Rather, President George H.W. Bush and former Vice President Dan Quayle. In 1993, Carrie went to work for the BBB in Beaumont, where her news releases, investigations and public relations programs won numerous awards.
In 2008, Carrie was elected as a member of the Bureau Operations Committee (BOC), the highest honor to which a BBB CEO can be elected. Carrie and the other four members of the BOC are charged with measuring the performance and effectiveness of the 128 BBBs in the system. In 2009, Carrie was named the BOC Chair. Carrie currently resides in Round Rock, Texas with her son, Trevor.
Erin Dufner, Senior Vice President of Communications
Erin Dufner is Senior Vice President of Communications for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. Born in Southern California, Erin earned a degree in Business and Management from the University of Redlands. Erin began her BBB career in 1996 at the San Diego BBB where she was responsible for many areas of BBB work, including media and government relations, advertising ethics, charitable accountability, dispute resolution and outreach. She was also named Secretary of the BBB’s Foundation. When she left California in October 2004 to join BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin, she had been named the Director of Ethics and Communications.
Erin is passionate about communicating BBB’s brand promise of delivering trust through internal and external communications to consumers, BBB Accredited Businesses, media, and BBB staff. In 2009, BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas, and the Permian Basin received the BBB Marshall A. Mott Award for outstanding communications, as well as awards for targeted media campaigns and new programs. Erin has trained BBB professionals across the country in several areas of BBB work, as well as served on national BBB committees. Erin and her husband Jeremy reside in Round Rock, Texas with their young daughter, Olivia.
Robyn Householder, Vice President of Business Development and Executive Director, BBB Education Foundation
Robyn Householder has held the position of Vice President of Business Development for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas, and the Permian Basin since May 2008. She is also the acting Executive Director of the BBB Education Foundation. Robyn is responsible for fundraising and managing all aspects of membership development and retention. In 2009, Robyn led her sales team to be #1 in the nation.
Robyn was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in Miami, Florida. Robyn earned a degree in Consumer Science and Marketing with a concentration in Fashion Merchandising at the University of Dayton. Upon graduation from college, Robyn was promoted to Regional Cosmetics Buyer for a Cincinnati-based department store that is now Macy’s. After working for several cosmetic companies as an executive, Robyn made a career change to join BBB in Dayton, Ohio as a sales representative.
Robyn has served on many boards, including the Miami Valley Professional Networking Association as board treasurer, Ridgeville Christian School as a board member and strategic development chair, treasurer for the Womens Resource Collaborative and the American Society of Association Executives. Robyn is currently an active member of the Austin Rotary.
Robyn has also trained many BBB sales professionals throughout the BBB system. In 2002, Robyn became the Dayton BBB Education Foundation’s Executive Director, while simultaneously working as Vice President of Business Relations. In 2007, Robyn was named CEO of Dayton/Miami Valley Better Business Bureau. Robyn and her husband, Jay, have two children, Meghan and Calvin.
Tiffen Eshpeter, Vice President of Operations
Tiffen Eshpeter is Vice President of Operations for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. Tiffen was raised in the small communities of Greenwater and Enumclaw, Washington. She earned a degree in Business Administration focusing on International Business from Western Washington University in 1998. She went on to earn an MBA in Change Leadership from City University of Seattle, while working full-time for BBB in 2009.
Tiffen began her career with BBB in 1998 with the BBB of Oregon & Western Washington. While there she worked in several different areas of BBB including managing IT, Operations, and Accredited Business programs. Tiffen also played a pivotal role in the merging of the BBB of Alaska with the BBB of Oregon & Western Washington, now the BBB serving Alaska, Oregon & Western Washington.
Tiffen is passionate about BBB and is always looking for ways to improve and streamline BBB to provide improved quality of service to consumers and local businesses. She most recently served as Senior Vice President for BBB serving Alaska, Oregon & Western Washington, before moving to Austin. Tiffen serves as co-planner for an annual event for BBB professionals from throughout the nation to share ideas and best practices. She has served on many national committees for BBB and has trained many BBB professionals. Currently she is serving as one of eight BBB professionals nationwide that provide customer service to other BBB professionals through an internal BBB Livechat feature. Tiffen is originally from the hometown of Kasey Kahne and is now a NASCAR fan. She resides in Austin, Texas.
Richard Kitterman, Regional Director in Centroplex, Texas
Richard Kitterman is the Regional Director of the Centroplex Office of the Better Business Bureau in Harker Heights, Texas. Richard was born in Spokane, Washington, graduated from North Central High School and was drafted into the Army. Richard served multiple tours over a 24-year career that took him all over the world, including Korea, Germany and California. He came to Texas in 1992 and met his wife, Darleen.
At Fort Hood, Richard worked as Chief of the Army’s Consumer Affairs Office and in October 1996 became Executive Director of BBB’s Centroplex office. One of the highlights of Richard’s BBB tenure was hosting Holly Petraeus, Director of BBB Military Line, at Fort Hood for a financial readiness seminar to help soldiers and their families. Richard continues to serve on the Association of the United States Army Board of Governors, which lobbies on issues for a better quality of life for soldiers and their families.
Richard served on the Harker Heights City Council from 1997 to 2004 and as Mayor Pro-Tem from 2002 until 2004. He also served on the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors from 2000 to 2003. He has been serving on the Board of Directors for Consumer Credit Counseling Services since 1996. He is also a past President of his Rotary Club and is the current Chair of the Harker Heights Chamber of Commerce. Richard actively sits on several military boards including the Fort Hood Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board. Richard is also involved with the Ad League and Central Texas College Education Committee. Richard and his wife Darleen reside in Harker Heights and are raising their teenage granddaughter Thavorey.
Dean Taylor, Education Director in San Antonio, Texas
Dean Taylor is Education Director of the BBB office in San Antonio. She has been working in the BBB system since 1972. In 1981, BBB’s Board of Directors appointed Dean Vice President. Dean has worked with the Council of Better Business Bureaus to evaluate the operations of Bureaus throughout the BBB system and make suggestions on how they can improve and become more efficient. Dean is also a certified arbitrator and has helped other BBBs with arbitration training.
Dean has been very active in the development and implementation of BBB Military Line, which brings free BBB services to military members and their families to improve their financial literacy and protect them from scams. She also helped establish BBB’s Auto Line program, the nation's oldest and most respected auto warranty dispute resolution program.
In 2004, Dean became President of the San Antonio BBB after her husband, BBB President, Leo Taylor, passed away. Dean continues to oversee the San Antonio BBB office as Executive Director. She continues to be very active in arbitrations, media relations and BBB Military Line presentations. Dean also served as Secretary of the San Antonio Advertising Federation.
Dean was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she graduated cum laude from Austin High School and won the prestigious American Legion Award. Dean currently resides in San Antonio and has five children and six grandchildren.
Alan Bligh, Regional Director in Corpus Christi, Texas
Alan Bligh is Regional Director of the BBB office in Corpus Christi. Alan is a native of Tacoma, Washington, but spent most of his childhood in San Diego, California. While in high school, Alan began studying Russian and joined the Air Force ROTC. Alan went on to attend San Diego State University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian. After graduation, Alan served in the Air Force, which took him all the way to West Texas. While based in San Angelo, Alan met his wife Blenda and began working as an assistant manager with the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce before becoming the manager of the Chamber of Commerce in Lamesa, just northwest of San Angelo.
After eleven years of chamber work, Alan began his career with BBB as President and CEO of the Lubbock BBB in 1980. While in Lubbock, Alan also earned a Masters degree from Texas Tech University with a major in Consumer Science and a minor in Advertising. Alan continued his BBB career as Director of Operations for the Wisconsin BBB and then moved back to Texas to assume the role of Executive Director of the then newly-opened branch office of the Killeen/Temple BBB. He made the move to Corpus Christi in 1996 to become President and CEO of the Coastal Bend BBB. Alan continues to oversee the Corpus Christi office as the Executive Director.
Alan is past chair of the Leadership Committee for Senior Community Services, which he still serves on and is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Area Agency on Aging Council of Governments. In addition, Alan is a board member of the American Advertising Federation’s Corpus Christi Chapter, where he chairs the ad review and legislative committees. He is also a board member of the Armed Forces Military Disciplinary Control Board, which reviews companies with bad business practices and puts them “off limits” to military personnel.
Alan lives in Corpus Christi with his wife of 41 years, Blenda. They have two grown children, Quin and Alanna.
Jana Starr, Dispute Resolution Manager
Jana Starr serves as the Dispute Resolution Manager for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. In this role, she manages the dispute resolution and alternative dispute resolution process. Jana has been with BBB since May 2010.
Jana was born in Fort Worth and earned a B.S. and M.A. degree in Communication with concentrations in Organizational Communication and Conflict Management, from Abilene Christian University. Prior to joining BBB, Jana held positions with the State of Texas and the American Cancer Society. Jana and her husband, Brantley, reside in Austin.
Kristi G. Peña, Regional PR Manager
Kristi G. Peña serves as the Regional PR Manager for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. In this role, she develops strong communications with local and regional media as well as community and business organizations focused around San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Laredo. She has been with the BBB since December 2010.
Kristi was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. She joins the BBB team after spending 10 years as a contracted Public Relations Specialist and Event Planner for various non-profits within the Corpus Christi community. She is also past Vice President of the Beautify Corpus Christi Association, which she still serves on as a member of the Advisory Committee. Over the last four years Kristi was the Director of Public Relations for MMC Communications which hosted two in-water boat shows that included professional level sporting events in Texas. Kristi and her family currently reside in San Antonio.
Chelsea Rutherford, Standards Manager
Chelsea Rutherford serves as Standards Manager for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. In this role, she oversees all functions related to BBB Accreditation Standards maintenance and evaluation. Additionally, she oversees any updates or necessary reviews for business report changes, including BBB Business Review updates and expired reports. Chelsea has been with BBB since September 2008.
Chelsea is originally from Brady, TX and earned a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Healthcare Administration from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. She has resided in the Austin/San Marcos area since August 2004. While attending Texas State from 2004-2008, Chelsea was recognized as a Texas State Terry Scholar and was involved in numerous community volunteer opportunities. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, playing softball and is an avid live music supporter.
David Branscum, Business Relations Manager
David Branscum serves as the Business Relations Manager for BBB serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. In this role, he manages the Business relations team which consists of new accreditation applicants, as well as existing Accredited Business involvement. David has been with BBB since March 2009.
David comes with 15 years of sales and account management experience. He has worked for a diverse group of Austin businesses including Dell, New Horizons CLC, and Sheshunoff Information Services. In his short tenure with BBB he has held positions on both the new accreditations team, as well as re-accrediting members. Dealing with current member involvement for two years, David contributed to an increase of member growth making the Central Texas BBB one of the highest in the country.
He is a graduate of Abilene Christian University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, emphasis on Sculpture. He enjoys fitness, guitar, art, and spending time with his beautiful wife and two rough and tumble boys.