News Releases

The Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce has ratcheted up its search for its next president and chief executive officer.

The chamber’s search committee is posting the job on Kwantek.com, in the Messenger-Inquirer and on the chamber’s website.

“We’ve been receiving résumés for a while, and now we’re expanding the search,” said Mike Beckwith, the chamber’s board chairman who also leads the search committee. “We’ll take from now until the end of the month and see what applications we get. Then we’ll reassess. If we have a sufficient pool, then we’ll take the month of March and talk to those applicants.”

Beckwith is executive vice president and chief financial officer for First Security Bank of Owensboro and the bank’s holding company, First Security Inc.

Serving with him on the CEO search committee are: former chamber board chairman and chairwoman, Wayne Foster and Suzanne Northern Blazar; and Steve Royal and Gavin Roberts.

The committee expects the selection process to continue in April and May before making a recommendation to the full board of directors.

“Before, the applications were just coming in,” Beckwith said. “Now we are more actively seeking them. We’re ready to go full bore.”

The chamber’s previous president, Jody Wassmer, left Oct. 21 to lead One Southern Indiana, the New Albany-based group which directs Clark and Floyd counties’ chamber and economic development efforts.

Debbie Benedek was hired as interim president Oct. 31.

The committee has taken its time to figure out what it wants in a leader, Beckwith said. Its process has included getting board member feedback about expectations for a new CEO and development of a needs assessment and job description.

The position summary shows the chamber is looking for someone who “shall be seen as a visionary and effect innovative initiatives, that continues the chamber’s leadership role in the community. Primary responsibility will be the overall management of the Chamber’s Strategic Plan to effectively serve the member businesses and support the entire region ....”

The posting also lists the core competencies expected from the successful applicant and the responsibilities of the job. The full post may be viewed at http://chamber.owensboro.com/documents/GOCCPosting2-13-2012.doc.

“This is a critical process. We have 1,000 members, and we want this to be a thoughtful process,” Beckwith said.

The chamber was named 2010 Chamber of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce picked Wassmer twice for its Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year.

Joy Campbell, 691-7299, jcampbell@messenger-inquirer.com

On The Web

The application posting may be viewed at http://chamber.owensboro.com/documents/GOCCPosting2-13-2012.doc.