BERLIN – For the second time in less than a year, the Berlin Chamber of Commerce finds itself without a director.
Jim Volk, the chamber’s administrator for the past five months, submitted his resignation last week. His last day will be April 17.
“The reason is just differing points of view between myself and the direction the board is going in,” Volk said. “They’re much more events oriented and my background is in business and commerce. I didn’t feel I’d be a close enough match.”
Volk was hired in the fall to replace Joya Mattie, who left the chamber late last summer. Natalee DeHart, president of the chamber’s board of directors, said his resignation took officials by surprise but that they immediately began the search for a replacement.
“It happened so suddenly,” she said. “He’s been a great asset. We aren’t ruling out trying to keep him on.”
Nevertheless, the chamber began advertising this week to find a new part-time chamber director. DeHart said that while she was concerned after losing a second director so soon after Mattie, she thought the chamber was moving in a positive direction. Though some of the organization’s activity died down during the time between when Mattie resigned and Volk was hired, DeHart says the chamber is back on track now.
“We have a lot of new businesses that are joining which is great,” she said.
DeHart said that while the Berlin Chamber of Commerce was involved in many town events as well as working with local businesses, the organization was limited to hiring a part-time director. She’s hoping that the position will evolve to full-time eventually.
“Our budget does not allow for full-time at this point,” she said.
DeHart is optimistic that Volk’s position will be filled quickly.
“A couple people have already shown interest,” she said Wednesday.
Berlin’s chamber of commerce isn’t the only one dealing with a key vacancy this spring. Liz Kain-Bolen, director of the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce, resigned in March after five years with the organization. The chamber’s board has formed a hiring committee and is looking for a replacement, according to Anna Giles, president of the board. In the meantime, Giles says the board’s executive committee is making sure “business as usual” is maintained.
In addition to serving the needs of 300 member businesses, the Ocean Pines Chamber handles a variety of annual events and is in the process of refining its mission, Giles said.
“Our intent was to differentiate ourselves from tourism-focused organizations,” she said, adding that the chamber wanted to be a trusted resource to connect customers to services in the community. “With a defined plan for the future, we feel we are in a strong position to continue to add value to our members and our community.”