SUMMERSIDE – The Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce is moving ahead with plans and projects as it continues its search for a new executive director.
Earlier this week, the University of Prince Edward Island announced the chamber’s executive director, Bill Schurman, will become the university’s new director of athletics and recreation. His new position becomes effective Feb. 4.
Chamber president Todd Clark said it will be a group effort to take over the work of Schurman until a new executive director is hired.
“It’s business as usual right now,” Clark said. “Billy is with us until the end of the month. The selection committee is well underway. We have applications that are now being accepted for the replacement position.”
Clark doesn’t foresee any difficulties while the board searches for a new director.
“We’ll have probably no executive director for a very short time, maybe a few weeks until we get the new one in place,” the chamber president said. “The executive has met on this and we’ve agreed that we’ll all operate it from the board level for that small interim window.”
One of the chamber’s premier events, Showcase 2013, will be happening in April and Clark said the chamber is on top of that.
“We do have Showcase coming up and we already have our Showcase co-ordinators in place and operating now,” he said. “The committee that’s struck off the board level will continue to manage that as it goes. We don’t see there being any issue with that. It’s out at the end of April.”
Clark said interest has been keen for the job.
“We’ve had a lot of inquiries on it already, which is great. Hopefully we’ll find a really solid candidate to replace Billy,” he said.
Schurman’s tenure as executive director of the chamber extends back to September 2011, Clark said.
“He was of tremendous value to the board and drove a lot of value into the chamber and the business community of Summerside,” Clark said. “We were happy to have had as much time with him as we had.”
Clark said Schurman made his own impression on the business community.
“He didn’t change structures or bylaw,” he said. “I think it was just a good cultural change for us. John (MacDonald former executive director) ran a great ship for so many years and Billy was a great sounding board on those ideas to validate some of the things that we’re doing.”
