Photo by Jon Anderson.
Jerome Morgan, owner of the Oncort Professional Services commercial cleaning company, helps conduct the Sept. 21 meeting of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce as the chamber’s president. Morgan was re-elected to serve a second term as president at the chamber’s Dec. 21 meeting.
The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce has a big change ahead in 2018, with the task of finding a new executive director.
Bill Powell, who has been director of the now 1,200-member chamber for 22 years, was slated to retire at the end of December but has agreed to continue helping until a new director starts.
Jerome Morgan Jr., the owner of Oncort Professional Services commercial cleaning company, was elected Dec. 21 to serve a second consecutive term as president of the chamber, providing some continuity during the transition.
Morgan said there is no way to replace Powell, who has helped quadruple the chamber’s membership and who has an extremely quick wit about him, but the board of directors is intent on finding the right person to move the organization forward.
“It is a slow process,” Morgan said. “But as the saying goes, you should be slow to hire and quick to fire.”
The chamber’s board hired the Rezult Group in Birmingham to help with its headhunter search and as of mid-December had more than 30 applicants, Morgan said.
A chamber selection committee planned to call in eight to 10 of the strongest applicants for interviews and narrow the pool down to three to five finalists for the full board of directors to interview, Morgan said. He hopes they can have a new director on board by March.
The executive director is responsible for day-to-day operations, managing staff and facilitating the networking events that help build stronger relationships between businesses and individuals in the community, Morgan said. The executive director also must lead in recruiting new members and retaining existing ones, he said.
Beyond hiring a new executive director, the chamber’s board of directors also in 2018 wants to develop a closer working relationship with Hoover’s elected city leaders, Morgan said.
The chamber already promotes city events on its website and other means of communication with its members and the general public but wants to do more to support the city, he said.
The city just hired a new economic developer, Greg Knighton from the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, so the chamber wants to work with Knighton to help bring more businesses into the city, Morgan said.
“Our mission is very clear — to support small to mid-size businesses,” Morgan said. However, the chamber also wants to do whatever it can to help lure larger businesses as well and play a bigger role in business recruitment, he said. “What that looks like I don’t know yet.”
Other officers for 2018 are: Terry Turner of the Gentle, Turner & Sexton law firm as first vice president; Paul Dangel of the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel as second vice president; Kathleen Spencer of Spencer Consulting Group as secretary; Adam West of Warren Averett CPAs and Advisors as treasurer; April DeLuca of Magic City Law Firm as legal advisor and Lori Schommer as liaison with the city of Hoover.
Other board members include: Cobb, Joel Smith of Hendrick Hoover Auto Mall, Ira Levine of Levine & Associates, Tynette Lynch of Aldridge Gardens, Paul Huckeba of CB&S Bank, Jeff McDowell of McDowell Securities, Lynn Ray of Business Telephones Inc., Alison Howell of Alabama Power Co., Mike White of the Riverchase Galleria and Matthew Allen of Starnes Media.
The chamber on Jan. 18 plans to recognize its Member of the Year, Board Member of the Year and Ambassador of the Year. To make a reservation, call 988-5672 or email Lisa Dunbar at admin@hooverchamber.org by Jan. 16. The cost is $20 for members with reservations or $25 for those without reservations or for non-members.