Ozark Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dori Grinder notified its board of directors she will resign at the end of the month to take a recently vacated job at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.
Starting Nov. 2, Grinder will become membership manager at the Springfield chamber. The position was
left open late last month when Brent McCoy, vice president of membership, moved to a position with OakStar Bank. Grinder said the structure of the position would be the same, but employees must earn the vice president title.
“The membership department takes care of recruiting new members, addressing the needs of the current 1,400 members of the Springfield chamber, as well as a handful of events that are very much membership geared and driven,” Grinder said, noting she would lead the four-employee department. “It’s an exciting new challenge. As far as chambers go, they really set the bar.”
Since joining the Ozark chamber in 2010, Grinder has led the organization to a 130 percent growth in membership. She also manned the helm for the chamber’s successful capital campaign to move its headquarters, as well as the opening of the Carl G. Hefner Enterprise Center, a business incubator created with the assistance of Springfield businessman Doug Pitt, among others.
“The chamber is over 400 members strong and is financially stable. She is leaving big shoes to fill, but we realize this is a tremendous opportunity for her and her family and we wish her great success,” Ozark chamber board Chairman Devin Bobbett said in a news release.
The organization has formed an internal search committee to find her replacement, Grinder said.
While she officially starts in November, Grinder said she will participate in the Springfield’s chamber’s Oct. 20-22 membership drive.
