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Chamber finalists visit Cody - By Mark Heinz
This document was published online on Monday, March 19, 2007
With seven finalists vying for the position, a new executive director of the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce could be in place next month.
All seven were present to visit with chamber members on Wednesday, March 14, at the Irma Hotel.
They were culled from an original applicant pool of 28.
They include the chamber's chief financial officer and interim director, Jay Moody, and Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale director Thom Huge.
Also included are Kimberly Jones of Kingsport, Tenn., Ron Morrison of Lewisville, Texas, Kimberlie Rightmer of Lead, S.D., Kurt Forester of Safey Harbor, Fla., and Karen Greenspoon of Prescott, Ariz.
Interviews with the candidates wrapped up last week, chamber spokesman Claudia Wade said.
The search committee will meet Wednesday, March 21, to choose a favorite.
The following Wednesday, March 28, a recommendation will be made to the chamber's board of directors - which will make the final decision.
A job offer could be extended and the new director could start by the first week of April, Wade said.
All seven finalists are good candidates, so it won't be an easy choice, she added.
Experience and knowledge in small business development will be some of the deciding factors.
“I find it a daunting task,” said chamber board member Judy Horvath, who owns Reindeer Ranch.
“Cody is growing and changing, and we need to choose someone with good knowledge and foresight to guide the chamber,” she added.
Some of the out-of-state finalists said they already have connections to Wyoming.
Rightmer lived in Casper for 13 years.
“I consider Wyoming my home and want to return to it,” she said.
Rightmer is the former director of the Lead, S.D., chamber. She is currently doing freelance work for a museum.
Greenspoon is a Cody native who has been away for about 20 years.
“You always want to come back home,” she said.
Jones said she's been visiting Cody since 2003 and her boyfriend, Kilian Gallery owner Rod Kilian, lives here.
She works for the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce.
In October she bagged a 4-point mule deer during a hunting trip on the South Fork.
Morrison is retired from the Lewisville, Texas, Chamber of Commerce. He works for a rental car company.
He has a friend on the Wyoming Business Council who has been urging him to move to Wyoming.
Foster manages a business development center in Clearwater, Fla. He lived in Cheyenne and worked for the Wyoming Business Council.
He said he knows the chamber will be hiring a separate economic development director, but said there is still a role in the area for the chamber director.
Former chamber executive director Gene Bryan also headed the Cody Economic Development Council.
After he retired, it was decided to split his old job in two.
The economic development half is on hold, to be tied to the Forward Cody program.
Still, the new chamber director will be expected to have some savvy in that area, Wade said.
“I don't think it's going to go completely away from the chamber,” she said. “As long as the chamber is to serve the needs of its members, economic development needs to be addressed by the chamber.”
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