New chamber director speaks to Rotary Club

Debbie Jecker, the new executive director of the Greater Berryville Area Chamber of Commerce, told the Berryville Rotary Club how a round of golf changed her career path.

Jecker was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club’s Jan. 17 meeting. She explained that she was “between jobs” when her husband, Matt, played a round of golf with former chamber director Dean Lee, now the director of economic development for the city of Berryville.

“They got to talking about golf and what is going on in their lives and what their wives were doing,” Jecker said. “And my husband says: ‘Well, Deb’s really not sure what she’s going to do next. She’s still thinking about it.’ I’m sure Dean’s wheels are like ‘hmmm.’ And so because of that golf game — thank you, Dean — I now have an incredibly fun career path and I’m really excited about it. It’s been a lot of fun. A lot of challenges, but a lot of fun.”

One of her goals for the chamber, Jecker said, is to bring it into the “digital age.”

“There’s no real Yellow Pages anymore,” she said. “But the new generation and the people coming up that are going to build businesses, they’re social media bugs.

“I’m working with some IT to bring the chamber into a more digital age and put us more on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn and all of these avenues of social media to try to broaden where Berryville is seen in the region and try to make us a bigger picture outside of our little communitywith the intent to still keep us as a community. I mean, that’s what Americana is. But in order to keep Berryville strong and growing, it needs to be a slow and steady growth. We’ve got to change, but we’ve got to do it in a slow and steady process. So I’m kind of looking towards that.”

Jecker, who began her duties with the chamber on Dec. 1, said she has been trying to meet with as many chamber members as possible. She pointed out that the chamber officers both individual and business memberships and encouraged prospective members to contact her.

Jecker said the chamber will adapt but won’t rush in doing so.

“Change isn’t always easy,” she said. “It’s necessary. But we’re going to take the tortoise and the hare approach. We’re going to keep going forward and win the race. So that’s the direction we’re going to go. I’m very, very happy to be a part of this community. There’s a lot more to Berryville than people realize.”