The Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County board has appointed Vern Squier as the organization’s next president and CEO, the CBICC announced Tuesday.
CBICC board members voted Aug. 10 to appoint Squier to the position, according to a news release. He will arrive from Overland Park, Kansas — where he is senior vice president of economic development at the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce — and is expected to begin work in Centre County by mid-September, the release notes.
‘We were impressed with Mr. Squier’s broad experience in both chamber operations and economic development,’ CBICC Board Chairman David Capperella said in the release. ‘We think he will be a great addition to the team we have in place.’
CBICC Chief Financial Officer David Wise, who has served as the organization’s acting CEO since June 2010, will continue as the CBICC’s CFO, according to the release. For 11 years leading up to last summer, the organization was led by John F. Coleman Jr.
Coleman resigned last year so that he could assume a position with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
Now, in adding Squier to the organization, the CBICC will bring ‘national-level business experience to the leadership of the chamber,’ CBICC Vice Chairman Ted McDowell said in the release.
Wise made a statement along similar lines.
‘While we have been able to maintain our business base and support new initiatives, we would like to enhance staff and experience to conduct business recruiting on a major scale, and really work to add jobs and value to the county’s economy,’ Wise said in the release. ‘We believe that Mr. Squier will bring us that experience.’
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