ELLSWORTH, Maine — More than three months after abruptly parting ways with its prior top official, the local chamber of commerce has selected a new executive director.
Gretchen Wilson, who previously has worked for the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross, is expected to start work in the position next week, the chamber indicated Monday in a prepared statement.
“I am very pleased that the chamber’s search committee saw in Gretchen, from the application and interview process, what I have continually witnessed firsthand,” Jeff Clark, president of the chamber’s board, said in the release. “Our chamber’s 650-plus members will benefit greatly from Gretchen Wilson’s leadership skills and experience as she assumes the executive director’s position.”
Wilson, a Northeast Harbor native, has prior work experience as owner of The Sedgwick Store, and as emergency services director of the American Red Cross Pine Tree Chapter, according to the chamber statement. Wilson also has worked as community manager of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce, which has included being the coordinator for Leadership Hancock County.
Wilson serves on the boards of The Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth, American Red Cross Pine Tree Chapter and Healthy Acadia.
“This is the right community and the right job at the right time,” Wilson said in the statement. “I am looking forward to working with the board and our members and am also very excited about our upcoming projects in the year ahead!”
The position has been vacant since mid-December, when the chamber decided to part ways with Susan Farley, a former reporter for WABI-TV and family assistance advocate at the Washington-Hancock Community Agency. Farley had been executive director of the Ellsworth Area Chamber since July 2014.
Wilson is expected to officially join the chamber as its executive director on Monday, April 4.
