ESTEVAN - The Estevan Chamber of Commerce has turned found its new executive director.
Merissa Scarlett will move into the role effective Oct. 16, replacing Jackie Wall, whose last day with the chamber was on Sept. 30. Scarlett's most recent job experience in the community has been as the executive director of the Estevan Public Youth Centre – a role she took on earlier this year.
In an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday, she said it seemed like the chamber role was the right fit for her. She has worked in the non-profit sector and has sales experience with businesses, which allowed her to work with a lot of small and medium-sized business owners.
"It's something I've always wanted to do," said Scarlett. "I've really wanted to advocate for Estevan at a bigger level, and really I think having a good business community, which I think we already have, and just taking it further, is critical for success for not only the business community but for everybody's well-being in Estevan."
Her non-profit experience includes time working at the Saskatchewan Science Centre, where she partnered with businesses to create events for the public. And her time is sales allowed her to see the struggle and passion of business owners.
"For me, I'm so happy to come back to that world and meet with the ones in Estevan that really make our community tick, and I want to just do more events for them and see what they need the chamber to do for them," said Scarlett.
Her duties as the chamber's executive director will include keeping the organization as an advisory entity for businesses, and being an advocate for local companies at the municipal, provincial and national levels of politics. She will have to help run networking events such as the chamber's Coffee Talk on the first Wednesday of each month, and she has some ideas on how to expand those gatherings. Growing the chamber's membership base will also be part of her duties.
Scarlett is also looking forward to getting out in the community, meeting some of the existing chamber members, and finding out what they like about the organization and what could be improved.
Scarlett noted she has corresponded with Wall via email and Wall is leaving a lot of information, including some good transition documents.
"I’m thrilled to be following in Jackie's footsteps. It's big shoes to fill, but I'm also really happy to inherit a highly-regarded chamber. I think Jackie did a great job of the last nine years, and I'm looking forward to continuing with a lot of her initiatives and hopefully spearhead some more," said Scarlett.
Her time with EPYC has also helped her prepare for the new role. She developed a plan and strategy for the youth centre, and believes she learned a lot about running day-to-day operations. Even though it's a non-profit, she believes it needs to be run like a business with its operations and managing budgets.
"I've also learned how to be a really good mediator and a leader to youth, and I think that comes in handy when dealing with anybody of any age," said Scarlett.
She believes EPYC is going to move forward really well and the board has a good plan moving forward.
Scarlett expressed gratitude to EPYC, to the chamber's board for giving her a chance, and to Wall for all the work that she has done in the past nine years.
