FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2008
Contact Information:
John Bowling
Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce
706-278-7373
Tim Chason
The Chason Group, Inc.
404-735-0540

Dalton-Whitfield Chamber Seeking President with Leadership, Communications and Economic Development Skills

Leadership, communications, and economic development skills are the top traits desired of the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce.  Business, government and community leaders recently completed a survey and stakeholder interviews as a part of the executive search process to select the new paid professional for the Chamber.  The results have provided a profile for the skill sets desired of the new executive.

“Through the membership of the Chamber, we conducted an online survey to determine what skills sets were needed most by the new executive in order to be successful in the position and in the community,” according to John Bowling, President of Hamilton Health Care Systems, and Chair of the Search Committee.  “The results of our stakeholder interviews have been extremely supportive of the process and our mission of selecting a leader who has the experience to move the Chamber to a new level of service.”

The survey results were presented to the Search Committee last week.  Other skill sets, both professional and personal, highlighted as keys for success included vision, experience and community development.  One-on-one stakeholder interviews were also conducted in the past 30 days and the comments from the 35 participants mirrored those of the online participants.

“The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber is the front door to our community,” says Bill Jourdain, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Chamber and a partner with Minor, Bell & Neal.  “The process the Committee goes through prior to selecting a President is extremely important.  The search has been, and will continue to be, inclusive of our members and other stakeholders.”

Advertisements, letters of interest and specifically personal contact have been a significant part of the initiative to identify candidates over the past 30 days.  The deadline to submit a resume is July 25.