The new Greater Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC doesn’t have a permanent office, a single telephone number or a unified website.
But on Wednesday, the merger of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. becomes official — with the hiring of a full-time CEO about to take center stage.
A search committee for the Chamber and EDC expects to have four to six finalists in town Monday, with interviews taking place Feb. 7, said Doug Quimby, the group’s board chairman, search committee co-chair and interim CEO. By the end of February, and possibly sooner, a CEO is expected to hired, he said.
About 100 applications are being reduced to eight to 12 candidates; current Chamber of Commerce CEO Dave Csintyan is among those on that short list, Quimby said. Csintyan now will be considered for the list of four to six finalists, Quimby said.
“I can’t tell you how many of those four to six will be local and how many of those four to six will be out of town,” Quimby said. “I can tell you there are good local candidates, and I would expect there will be at least one local candidate within the finalists, and maybe more.”
Csintyan couldn’t be reached for comment.
How soon a CEO comes on board after the hiring will depend on whether the new executive is local or must relocate, Quimby added.
The CEO search is the highest-profile first step for the newly merged organization.
More than 20 years ago, the chamber and EDC operated as a single group, but split in 1991 over differences that stemmed in large part from the direction of job creation efforts. Since then, the EDC operated as the area’s primary jobs-generating organization, while the chamber represented the interests of local businesses.
Last year, area business people and community leaders began talking merger as a way to improve the local economy. Some of those civic leaders and business people liked what they saw while on a visit to Oklahoma City, Okla., where a single organization has been credited with helping to boost that city’s business climate.
The Chamber and EDC have completed or are working to finalize the coordination of employee policies and benefits, the combination of payrolls, the establishment of one accounting system and the creation of a membership roster, Quimby said.
No staffers have been laid off as a result of the merger; the new CEO will analyze the organization to determine whether changes might be warranted, Quimby said.
For now, the Chamber and EDC staffs will continue working in their separate offices until a new downtown headquarters is selected, he said. Depending on how much remodeling might be needed, the new group might move in as early as March or as late as June or early July, Quimby added.
The new group also is looking to create a single website, office phone number and an organization logo, he said.
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