PORT ANGELES — Marc Abshire, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, has been named executive director of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
He succeeds Russ Veenema, who retired Dec. 30.
The hiring of Abshire, a Port Townsend High School graduate, was announced Monday at the chamber luncheon.
Abshire, 55, has been the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce executive director since October 2014.
He is an Arizona native and former California resident.
“Based on his experience and knowledge of the area, it was just an easy choice to offer him the position,” chamber Board President Sharon Thompson told the 32 chamber luncheon attendees.
Expects Feb. 1 start
A Kingston resident, Abshire said Monday in a telephone interview that he expects to start his new job by Feb. 1.
The U.S. Air Force Academy graduate will attend a chamber “After-Hours” get-together 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Red Lion Hotel.
Abshire said Monday he wants to run a chamber that benefits businesses and the economy.
“Port Angeles is ready for it and primed for it. I’m looking forward to bringing that laser focus to the business economy there.”
Abshire’s at-will contract is $58,000 a year compared to Veenema’s $89,000 multiyear pact.
Steve Burke, the chamber treasurer, said Monday that his pay is lower than Veenema’s because the chamber no longer handles tourism promotion for the city under a contract that in 2015 earned the chamber $175,000.
“That was a big chunk of change and [Veenema] knew that stuff,” Burke said.
“We couldn’t keep affording to pay that kind of money.
“We’re going to spend less on a tourism focus and more on business support.”
Burke said that no candidates from Clallam or Jefferson counties applied for the position.
He was on a five-member chamber executive search committee that included Thompson and chamber board members Carol Sinton, Rob Tulloch and Jessica Hernandez.
Was only recommendation
The committee recommended Abshire as the top and only choice from among eight applicants.
The chamber board, which asked the committee to recommend a single candidate, unanimously approved the move Friday.
Abshire has a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master’s degree from the University of Colorado.
He has been a business, government and nonprofit-organization consultant and coached and written for corporate and government leaders, according to the Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce website at www.poulsbochamber.com.
Abshire said he wrote a speech for George W. Bush in 2001 on the winner of the Commander-In-Chief’s trophy that military academies compete for in football.
He said the Poulsbo position was his first as a chamber of commerce executive director.
Abshire said that it was “absolutely” his choice to apply for the position in Port Angeles and that he was helping the Poulsbo chamber board select a successor.
During 2015 he returned “unprecedented” revenue to the Poulsbo chamber and its members, he said.
“From my perspective, I saw the Port Angeles opportunity awhile ago when I learned that Russ was leaving,” Abshire said, adding he is a regular weekend visitor to Olympic National Park.
Coming home
“For me, this is a huge return to home, and I’m so happy to be back.
“Even though I went off and did these things, I never really left.”
Burke said Monday the chamber has 450 members.
Thompson, who has declined interviews, updated chamber board members on the hiring process in a Monday, Jan. 4 memo.
“It was brought to our attention that there was a desire by some for more communication about where we were/are in the process with the rest of the board,” Thompson said.
She said seven of eight applicants were queried.
She said she screened four of them with questions such as how their managers or boards would describe them, how their best friend would describe them, why they wanted the position, and what was their greatest accomplishment.
She also asked them to “share a story that speaks to who you are from a values perspective” and asked them to identify their perfect job.
The search committee interviewed three of the applicants, determining “competencies” in such categories as “public relations, leadership, operational excellence and strategic thinking,” she said in her memo.
“One candidate rose head and shoulders above the others, and we will present our recommendations to the board at this Friday’s [Jan. 8] meeting.”
That candidate was Abshire.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
