The need for a new executive director for the Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce has paved the way to an opportunity for change.
Officials with the chamber explained that, as with any business, it is necessary to adjust for the times. This is a goal that the chamber has worked to achieve over the last few months.
The final piece in that process will be hiring a new executive director. An ad in today’s edition of The Era outlines the position of executive director for the chamber, a position that has been open since September 2019, when former director Kara Kennedy left the position and Shane Oschman was hired as a consultant.
Oschman and Anita Dolan, president of the chamber’s board of directors, discussed the job opening with The Era this week.
“We really needed to take some time to see what this position needs to be for our business community. It’s a lot of different things, which for some people that’s what they love to do. They love to multi-task. It’s not just a one-skillset type of position,” Dolan explained. “You have to be very good at building relationships with the business community. On top of that, you have to be a good communicator, a good writer, very organized, a good event planner… There’s a lot of things that go with that.
“Having Shane come on board here as our consultant for the last few months has allowed us to take some time to know what we are looking for and put some things together.”
Oschman, who is also a past president of the board, outlined some of the most important qualities the board is looking for in a new executive director.
“We want to make sure we identify the right person that has a love for the community, has a knowledge of the community, wants to be involved in community events and has the organizational skills and leadership skills to help make those connections,” Oschman said. “We are looking for those four basic things, and we are also looking for a marketing background, good written and oral skills, someone who likes to collaborate.”
Most positions, when posted, have a designation of full-time or part-time. For this particular situation, that will depend on who is hired rather than the other way around.
“What we don’t know is how much time this person is going to commit. We have decided as a board — we are looking for the right person,” Oschman explained. “We are going to utilize our own staff to fluctuate around the schedule and responsibilities of that executive director.”
Dolan agreed, noting that the focus is more on the right person than the set number of hours to work each week.
“If we find someone who wants to work 30 hours a week, we would entertain that. If we have someone who has to have full-time — if that’s the right person for the position — we want to do that,” Dolan said. “We didn’t want to set it in stone as either full-time or part-time. We really wanted to be able to open it up with that flexibility to having that right person in there.”
“We are very pleased with the people who are working with the Chamber right now, Brit Watson is doing a great job with membership and marketing. Casselyn Kervin, who we hired as temporary help, has done a really nice job of caring for our members and helping to do administrative duties that otherwise were being overlooked,” Oschman said. “Our hope is that in this process, they will be able to continue to complement the new person that we bring in.
We are confident we have support staff in place that will help the new executive director find their footing in the next few months.”
Both Oschman and Dolan noted that the current board is really strong, with a great business acumen and focus on making things work. This, in addition to the efficient staff, means the only missing piece is the right executive director.
“We have a great staff in place right now, we have upgraded our computer system so that’s all functioning the way it needs to,” Dolan added. “For somebody who is creative and has that energy to take the chamber to the next level, it can be a rewarding position.”
The position is currently advertised, with the hope for applications to be in by mid-March. Both Oschman and Dolan noted that once the right person is hired, the future of the chamber can continue to be the focus.
Oschman explained that one of the first priorities is to allow the new executive director a chance to look at current operations and provide their insight on any changes to better serve chamber members. That will include getting the perspective of the members themselves.
“We want to survey those members. What does the membership expect out of us, what are we doing well and how are we not serving our members? That’s something that I wish, in my short tenure, that I had time to do. Now, we are ready to seek a new executive director, and that is something we can talk about in full detail,” Oschman said. “We are making sure we are meeting the needs of members and this community, so we are marketing the Bradford community.”
