- November 6, 2024
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The Board of Directors of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce announced Monday, Aug. 21, that Jorge Gutierrez will be the organization's new president and CEO. Gutierrez replaced Rebecca DeLorenzo, who served as the Chamber’s president until February 2017 when she accepted a position with the American Red Cross.
Gutierrez, an Ormond Beach resident and native of Cuba, has over 20 years of experience in the business world, including experience in sales, manufacturing and financial diligence, and marketing strategy. He was most recently the regional vice president of Operations for Concorde Career Colleges, where he oversaw four colleges in the Allied Health Industry.
So, what are your duties as president and CEO of the Chamber?
Really, it’s to engage and look after the interest of the business community and the community as a whole. The main duty for me is really the mission and vision of the organization. When it comes to the mission, it’s really engaging and promoting and sustaining the thriving business climbing in Flagler County. Of course, the vision is always to be the recognized voice of Flagler County and to be a great resource for the community. So, that’s really my goal: to deliver the mission and vision of the organization.
You have a lot of experience with sales, finance and marketing. How will your experience help you with those duties?
As I said, it's about engaging and promoting sustained, thriving businesses in the community. I managed many businesses, so I know what it takes to run a business and how a Chamber of Commerce can help that business thrive. So, I have a lot of insights into that. I have a lot of ideas of how to make that better. The Chamber of Commerce is like any other business, as well. It requires sales, it requires knowing your operations well, having great people working for you, and so I can bring that to the table.
How does the Chamber benefit the community?
There’s a tremendous amount of value from the membership. You can go to our membership website and look at all the membership events that we have, the networking that we have, the education that we provide to all the business so they can thrive is part of what we offer. We have a lot of events and programs. We have the Youth Leadership Flagler, which promotes the leadership of Flagler from the youth side. So there’s a lot of benefits in that respect.
What does it mean to you to be in this position?
For me, it’s exciting. I always wanted to use my skill set rather the running a business but more towards the community and making the community more significant. You know, putting more roots into a community. It’s very exciting, and I’m happy to be a part of that.
Why did you decide to get into this business?
Really, it comes down to setting goals and objectives. I’m passionate about helping people succeed and getting a group of people passionate about their mission and vision and taking it to the next level. I’m excited about that. I’m excited about what it can do for the community.
What are you most looking forward to as president and CEO of the Chamber?
What’s exciting at this point in time is getting to know the community and the members of the chambers. We have a wealth of experience in the Chamber, and so I’m very excited about getting out there, listening to all of our members, we have 700-plus members, and I’m very excited to getting out there and learning about what they see the issues are, what they see the challenges are and how we bridge that with the chamber to help them out.
Is there anything you're apprehensive or nervous about?
No. Not at all. I’ve been through a lot of companies’ ups and downs. I don’t think there’s a situation I haven’t seen just yet, so I’m not apprehensive about anything. I’m excited, and that’s about it. I’m looking forward to working with a bunch of great people.
