Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce Hires New President And CEO

Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce Hires New President And CEO

The Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce (the “Haverhill Chamber”) is pleased to announce the hiring of its new President and CEO, Dougan Sherwood, as well as a new agreement to collaborate with the Greater Haverhill Foundation (the “Haverhill Foundation”).  The Haverhill Chamber and the Haverhill Foundation have reached agreement to work together and coordinate efforts to market the City of Haverhill, promote local businesses, and gather resources to enhance job creation and economic development within the City of Haverhill.  The newly appointed president and CEO of the Chamber, Dougan Sherwood, shall lead the collaboration.

Dougan joins the Haverhill community after having spent the past decade as a senior member of Cambridge Innovation Center, the country’s leading organization for creating innovation communities.  His work in Kendall Square and in other cities throughout the United States and abroad have given him a broad set of experiences and a unique skill set that he believes can be applied just as well in Haverhill as it can in other future forward cities.  “Haverhill has so much to offer and so much going for it.  Strong manufacturing, a downtown with great structures, a beautiful waterfront, and a wonderful community and quality of life.  Add to this smart investment in new developments and the commitment of UMass Lowell, there’s a lot of good stuff going on that we can build from.  I can’t wait to be a part of it all.”

The Haverhill Chamber and the Haverhill Foundation have a long history of working together on major projects and economic development initiatives in the City of Haverhill.  Up until a few years ago the two organizations operated under a shared executive agreement.  The recent search for a Chamber President sparked discussions of reviving the collaboration. The leaders of the organizations developed a new collaboration model, which combines financial resources to allow for the hiring of a highly qualified President and CEO.

Among the initiatives that the organizations will work together on are: 1) initiate strategies to recruit new Businesses to Haverhill; 2) Investigate and implement strategies to promote existing Haverhill Business retention/expansion; 3) Based upon the recent GHF business park company survey data, work to address Business Park companies identified local needs and thereby confirm the value of Chamber membership and involvement; 4) Develop and initiate City of Haverhill image marketing and promotional efforts; 5) Create and facilitate an impactful Downtown Haverhill Waterfront calendar of current and expanded programming; 6) Facilitation of the successful relocation of the Farmers Market to downtown; 7) Implementation of strategies for the promotion and development of Haverhill as an active recreational inland harbor; and 8) Prospect recruitment and leasing of existing available Harbor Place commercial /retail space and other Downtown Haverhill sites.

##Pictures Included

• Dougan and Staff: L to R, Tita Antonopoulos, Hillary Rogers, Dougan Sherwood, Melissa Seavey, Beth Morrow

• Dougan Sherwood

• GHF, GHCOC, and Dougan: L to R, Tom Mortimer, Ron Trombley, Dougan Sherwood, Paul Magliocchetti, and Brad Howell

About the Haverhill Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce is a private, non-profit business organization composed of nearly 500 area businesses, and we are growing by the day.  The Chamber creates and fosters a prosperous business environment and support the growth and profitability of their members, providing the resources, advocacy, information, networking and marketing opportunities for members’ success.