Chamber Director To Step Down

Addison Antonoff Monday, March 4 2024 - 2:25pm

Carolina Cooney is stepping down from her role as executive director of Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Cooney, who has been the executive director for two years, submitted her resignation letter in March but will continue to serve the chamber in a hybrid capacity, the chamber said in a statement.

The search for her replacement has not yet begun, but chamber board president Greg Orcutt said he was excited to find someone to help continue the chamber’s mission.

“We want to find somebody who is familiar with the way people use media and make their vacation plans,” Mr. Orcutt said in a phone interview Tuesday, “The job has changed because media has changed, people’s vacationing has changed.”

Ms. Cooney started as the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce in April 2022. Before that, she worked at Oak Bluffs Library after moving to Martha’s Vineyard in 2011.

When she started, Ms. Cooney saw opportunities for Island businesses in the shoulder season, and she worked with Seastreak to help get the ferry line to run commuter trips from New Bedford in the winter.

“There is a lot of opportunity for someone who is very ambitious and very interested in getting deeply involved in the community,” Ms. Cooney told the Gazette. “It is quite challenging and you have to have a thick skin and be very level headed.”

Comments

I met her a few times and

Jim OB

I met her a few times and thought she had fresh, new ideas. I wish her great success going forward. It's a tough island, and not very friendly, to be honest.

Enjoyed you French classes,

Jane Littell Edgatown

Enjoyed you French classes,
Especially the baked treats, and your cooking classes through Oak Bluffs Library. Thank you for sharing all your time and talents with us on this precious island. You will be missed. Best wishes
For your future. Jane

Best of luck in your next

Colin Palmer Edgartown

Best of luck in your next venture! It is a difficult job, especially when trying to navigate the needs and nuances of a community that you recently moved to full-time. Thank you for trying your best to make it work.

Thank you to this energetic

Nancy Floramstein MV

Thank you to this energetic young chamber director who did her best in a challenging environment. She did try to move the shoulder season forward, aided in securing sea streak to provide year round service to aid our workers and having the island rely less on housing for those summer workers. Some will undoubtedly commute on the Seastreak.

Yet the issue remains and the Chamber will continue to be a revolving door at the MVCC as long as the current ineffective board stays and it's members don't deserve their resignations. Yes, the island is changing but very few members of the board change. Very few of them currently own businesses on island or have been retired for decades. Many have actually never lived on island and rarely attend meetings. . Look at the list. https://www.mvy.com/our-team/

Carolina Cooney started at the chamber of commerce in 2022.