Two high-level retirements have left the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce without a chief executive or an economic development director since last fall, with existing staff and board members keeping the operation running until permanent replacements are named.
Andrea Beam, vice president of operations, has been more or less serving as acting president – but without the interim title – since the retirement of Dori Stone on Oct. 11, said board chair Shane Mullan. And no one seems to have taken on the role of interim economic development director, which opened up when Helene Caseltine retired in September after more than 21 years on the job.
The last time the chamber needed new leadership, it contracted with Vero-based headhunters HR Dynamics and spent more than six months vetting candidates from around the country. This time, the Chamber’s executive committee has focused its search closer to home.
“Naturally, when someone in a leadership role like Dori leaves, (the vice president) would be considered next in line,” said Mullan.
“With Dori’s departure, obviously there were some gaps that needed to be filled,” Mullan said.
“The executive committee has become much, much more involved than we have been in the past, making sure that we’re providing insight and guidance and making sure that nothing’s being missed day to day.”
Should Beam officially be named president, it hasn’t been determined yet if someone will be hired to fill the vice president position, Mullan said. “We have the mindset that we want to make sure that the Chamber has the resources, staff-wise, that it needs to operate, but doesn’t take on more salary than necessary.”
The Chamber is seeking to hire a bookkeeper to relieve Beam of the Chamber’s bookkeeping duties, Mullan said. The position would be 25 to 30 hours per week and would also keep the books for Visit Indian River County and Indian River County Economic Development, the other two arms of the Chamber, he said.
“So we’ll continue to monitor things to determine if backfilling the V.P. role will be necessary,” Mullan said.
The Chamber’s business services arm is funded by membership fees from local businesses, along with contributions from private sector partners, Mullan said. The county provides a small amount of funding to cover bookkeeping, so the new bookkeeping position would be paid by the county, Mullan said.
As for the role of economic development director, offers have been made to several candidates, but the position is still open, Mullan said. The full-time job pays $85,000 to $95,000 annually, plus benefits.
Indian River Economic Development is recognized as the official Economic Development Organization by the Florida Department of Commerce and operates under the direction of the board of county commissioners. The county provided $238,725 for economic development services for Financial years 2024-25, according to county administrator John Titkanich. These funds are applied to staffing costs and operating expenses, including marketing, for this arm of the Chamber, Titkanich said.
The county budgeted $926,748 to Visit Indian River County, FL for tourism promotion for Financial Year 2024/2025, Titkanich said. Both of these agencies are funded by the 5 percent bed tax levies on hotel stays.
