The Malibu Chamber of Commerce has hired a new executive director with a strong background in computers and community relations.
After 12 years of service, Mary Lou Blackwood resigned from her post as executive director of the chamber, and Ani Dermenjian, president of the chamber’s board of directors, implemented a search committee composed of past and future presidents to look for her replacement.
After a meticulous search, they hired Catherine Garcia, an experienced recreation director and mother of three, because she has a versatile and compatible professional background for the job.
Dermenjian said the most important thing for her was to have somebody who is technologically strong, who could be energetic, enthusiastic and creative as well. She said they found those talents in Garcia.
Membership retention and recruiting will be one of her priorities. She plans to put her ideas into practice by offering extra benefits to the members — she will launch a new Web site in January 2001 that will have links to members’ businesses.
Garcia, who has a degree in business management from Azusa University, hopes to see the chamber develop a strong working relationship with the city.
“We’re all connected together,” said the new director, who will begin her work by meeting with the community to learn about its needs.
Her professional experience includes business management, law, and involvement in nonprofit organizations. Additionally, she has experience as a recreation director for the City of Coachella where she worked with volunteers and arranged special events in the Coachella Valley. Garcia also acted as liaison for the City Council and the community in Coachella, and she helped developed a park improvement plan. As recreation director, Garcia also wrote grant applications and obtained grants.
“I was attracted to the job because it put everything together for me,” said Garcia. “It was a perfect fit.”
“She comes to us with good experience and she has confidence and can do well with public speaking,” said Dermenjian. “She is a team player.”
Given that Garcia has coordinated many community events in the past, she will be a tool for the chamber, said the president, who hopes to increase the chamber’s presence in the community at large.
The chamber currently has 400-plus members. Garcia will begin to work on a smooth transition plan that will help alleviate the workload for the board of directors.