News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Cherie Ferguson. photo provided
The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce has a new executive director.
Cherie Ferguson, formerly director of the Women's Resource Center of Central Oregon, was the last candidate standing after an arduous and painstaking selection process that saw the chamber board take almost four months to winnow through a field of more than 30 candidates.
"This board took this incredibly seriously," said former president Tate Metcalf. "We were blown away by the candidates."
The board is confident that the process produced the best hire for the organization, which is trying to become more unified, aggressive and sophisticated in its marketing of Sisters and its service to its members.
"She (Ferguson) was on another level," said Chamber President Mike Robillard.
Ferguson's background and experience certainly qualified her for the job, but for the board there were other less definable qualities that stood out - especially her poise and "people skills."
"It was like each of us felt like she was talking to us individually," Robillard said.
Ferguson vetted the Chamber as thoroughly as they vetted her. She wasn't actually looking for a job when the opening came up, and she did her homework to make sure the position was a good fit.
She told The Nugget that it was important to her that the board was committed to creating an environment where an executive director can succeed. She recognized that the Chamber has had relatively high turnover in the position, but she believes the organization has set a new course.
"They (the board) tried to express that they've really tried to breathe new life into the board," she said.
Robillard said the board has taken concrete steps to become more efficient and professional with an organization that has grown from a budget of $200,000 to a budget of $500,000 in just a few years. They have updated the employee handbook, outsourced accounting services - and, perhaps most importantly, board members are committed to taking an active hand in the work of the chamber.
"We want to give her the platform to do what she needs to do," said Robillard. "But we really want to be there as a safety net."
"I've seen those steps," Ferguson said. "I think they're invested. I think they've done their best to create a situation for an executive director to be a success."
Ferguson brings a strong marketing background to the position. She has worked with several non-profit organizations both in Central Oregon and in the Willamette Valley.
While at Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette, she helped launch Goodwill's re-branding campaign. "The Business of Changing Lives" is still in effect today and is now being implemented in other Goodwill systems across the nation.
She also helped complete Goodwill's Capital Campaign, helping to raise nearly $2 million to build a new headquarters facility. Following the capital campaign, she set up a grant writing system that brought in more than $93,000 after its second year.
That kind of experience resonated with the Chamber, which is developing its recently-acquired Sisters Country brand.
"Having a unified brand is very important," Ferguson said.
Sisters has a lot to offer - not just to tourists from the Valley but to Central Oregon residents, Ferguson believes.
"It's not Bend; it's not Redmond - it definitely has its own flavor," she said.
She is excited to get involved in the complicated question of how to bring economic development to Sisters while retaining the community's best qualities.
Ferguson said that she and her husband initially hoped to live in Sisters when they moved across the mountains in 2006, but her husband's job with Les Schwab in Prineville made commuting prohibitive.
Now that his position has been transferred to Bend, a move to Sisters is in the cards. Ferguson has enrolled her two-year-old in preschool here and will place her five-year-old in kindergarten in Sisters.
Family is paramount to Ferguson, and she appreciates that she is "taking a job in a community that cares about families."
The chamber board is excited about Ferguson - and about the fresh sense of purpose and involvement on the board and in the membership.
"Everyone is involved," Robillard said. "It's pretty exciting, really. It's not just two people talking; everybody is engaging. Everybody really wants to work together, and in the past that wasn't always the case."
For more information about the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, call 549-0251 or visit http://www.sisterschamber.org.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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