PORT ANGELES — Russ Veenema is on course to resign at the end of 2015 as executive director of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce after 15 years at the helm, he said Friday.
“As of now, yes, the plan would be for me to leave the chamber at the end of 2015,” Veenema, 61, said.
“It’s been a great job, the board is terrific, and we’re all looking forward to the new look of the chamber that we are looking forward to putting on in 2015.”
With the chamber adopting some elements of the PA United merger plan, and Veenema’s three-year contract ending in 14 months, both he and the chamber are at a critical juncture in their decade-and-a-half relationship, chamber Board President Todd Ortloff said Friday.
Ortloff said Veenema, who was hired by the chamber in the fall of 2000, earns $89,000 a year.
The chamber board has voted to reorganize the organization under five-task-force plan developed under the PA United merger effort that involved the chamber, the Port Angeles Downtown Association and Port Angeles Business Association.
The consolidation effort is indefinitely stalled, but key elements are being adopted by the chamber, which has about 450 members.
Ortloff said the chamber will be in a state of flux in the next year.
For example, the chamber may not receive lodging taxes that totaled $340,000 in 2014 under a five-year contract with the city— more than half the chamber’s $495,000 budget — after the city decided to open the process to requests for proposals from other groups.
City officials had concerns about the hours the chamber was keeping for the visitor center, which is funded with lodging taxes.
The chamber will be submitting a request for proposal for the funding, Ortloff said.
“We have not been able to grasp what the chamber will look like in the next year or so,” Ortloff said.
“Obviously, with the end of his contract, I assume we’ll be having discussions with him on what he feels he wants to do.
“He’s certainly near retirement age.”
Ortloff said the chamber in 2015 will pay Veenema $42,000 in deferred compensation that Veenema has accrued during his tenure.
Chamber officials are figuring out how that will be paid, Ortloff said.
“We don’t have the money to write him a check tomorrow,” he said, adding Veenema will receive the funding whether or not he stays.
“We are trying to put a payment plan together that is feasible while putting together a budget that will pay this through the end of the year.
“We’re having to prepare multiple budgets at this point.
“I’m not sure if the city will do funding for the visitor center or not.”
Ortloff said he did not know if the chamber would hire a new executive director under terms similar to those contained in Veenema’s contract.
“That’s up to the board,” Ortloff said.
“It’s up to what the new chamber might look like.
“We might decide we need a different skill set or the same skill set.
“I can’t see the chamber moving forward without some sort of executive director.”
Ortloff was asked if he would sign Veenema to a new contract.
“Yes, I think he does a good job for the chamber,” Ortloff said.
“But I certainly can understand that he is a this point in his career when he has to make a decision, too.
“We are at an interesting crossroads.”
Ortloff later said crossroads was too strong a term.
“It’s more of a transition, moving ahead with kind of restructuring how the chamber looks.
“The reality is, we will be in the last year of the executive director’s contract, so we have pretty large items looming next year.”
Veenema said if he does leave the chamber, he doesn’t know if he will fully retire.
“Some time in the middle of the year I will decide whether or not I stay or go,” he said.
“It will be a combination of the board discussion and my discussion, and it’s not really relevant at this time when we’re trying to make a lot happen.”
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
