The Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce has officially started seeking a new president and chief executive officer.
The position has been filled by the chamber’s director of economic development, Missy Bonnot, in an interim capacity since July following the retirement of former president/CEO Randy Allen. Allen held the position for 15 years prior to his retirement.
Allen’s retirement and the search for a new CEO have fallen in line with the creation of a new economic development entity called the Jefferson City Regional Economic Partnership.
After a consultant’s recommendation, economic development will shift to this new entity and the Chamber of Commerce will focus more on business services.
Jeff Davidson, 2021 chairman of the chamber’s Board of Directors, said the president/CEO job description and expectation have been altered for this search to reflect the chamber’s new focus.
“Previously, it was really important for that leader to have a foot in both camps — to understand both chamber and economic development activities,” Davidson said. “One of the things we’re looking forward to is to engage and bring on board a new leader with a singular focus to provide value to chamber members and help grow the chamber.”
Davidson said they modified the job description to focus more on chamber membership growth and communications instead of including economic development.
The search is being conducted by St. Louis-based Next Move Group, which provides services for small- to mid-sized companies, communities and nonprofits, including assistance with C-level executive searches. Although based in the Midwest, the group has national connections with the potential to bring in many applicants.
“We felt like they’re uniquely capable of helping us locate the best applicants,” Davidson said.
Next Move Group will handle the interviewing and narrowing down any interested candidates and will present its final recommendation to the board’s executive committee, then the full board will vote for final approval.
Davidson said they hope to have a candidate chosen during the first quarter of the year, with the new CEO potentially starting in the first or second quarter.
While the search is nationwide, Davidson said local candidates are welcome, and having a candidate with ties to the area would be beneficial.
“If our best candidate resides here in Jefferson City today, and they’re part of our community today, that would be an absolute blessing to our organization,” Davidson said. “We’re excited to search locally as well as in the Midwest and nationally.”