Chamber of Commerce seeks interim director

The Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is seeking an interim executive director. The role of the director is to report to the board of directors and is the front-line organizer of chamber activities. Many skills are required of the director, but perhaps none are more important than the ability to effectively network.

"The executive director role is key to the success of the organization. We are looking for someone who is creative in their approach to connecting consumers to businesses. We need them to not only be a great communicator but, they should be skilled technically as our Web site can be a great resource to our members, potential members and to our public," said Dave Millam, president of the chamber board. "The position is really a public relations/marketing role."

The chamber of commerce exists to promote local businesses in their efforts to thrive through networking and marketing their services. The chamber of commerce is comprised of a board of directors of local chamber members whose goal in serving on the board is to grow the membership of the chamber to ensure its prosperity.

"We have many challenges facing us right now in these tough economic times. We are not only contending with a tight budget in our organization, we are contending with the tight budgets of our members as well. We have to show a value for being part of the chamber or companies simply cannot justify the expense of their membership.

"zWe like to refer to our members as investors. That is really what they are; investors in a program that should show them a return on their investment by promoting their business within the community. We have some very talented committees formed within our board who are working hard to identify what businesses want and need from the chamber and providing it to them.

"I'm excited to see what we can do to improve commerce in Vernon County in 2011," Millam said.

The chamber board will work to put an interim director in place immediately to manage the chamber office until the right candidate is recruited for the permanent job. If you would like more information on the executive cirector position, or for more information on the Chamber of Commerce services, please contact the Chamber office at (417) 667-5300.