The McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce is under new leadership as President/CEO Don Vizi offered his resignation, effective Wednesday, Sept. 28. Vizi assumed the role of president in January 2021 in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

Chamber Executive Committee Chairman Shane Brock said, "We accepted Don's resignation as of Wednesday. We appreciate Don's service to the Chamber. Over the last two years during the COVID pandemic, like many businesses, the Chamber went through its own struggles and we appreciate the leadership he brought. Over the last year we have gained a new momentum and are headed in a very positive direction and we are looking forward to continuing that positive momentum under the new leadership the Chamber selects."

Current vice president of operations  Melissa Mullins, will be taking over as interim president.

"We have a tremendous staff at the Chamber and I want to make sure to say thank you to them. They are a phenomenal group of individuals who will be successful in guiding us through this transition," Brock said.

"We are excited about the direction the Chamber is headed and we really appreciate our members. We want to encourage everyone who is not a member to reach out to us. We'd love to add new members any time we have a business that would like to become a part of this organization," Brock said.

No timetable to replace Vizi has been set. "We have some upcoming meetings scheduled in which we will form a hiring committee and we will begin the search process to find our next president," Brock said. 

"The Chamber is such a vital organization to our county and our city and we are here to represent our membership. We have such a strong, diverse group of members and we want to continue to grow our membership and give our members an opportunity to network and use the resources the Chamber has at its disposal. We'd also like to thank our Chamber Ambassadors and our volunteer board members. It takes a large group of people to make an organization like this function and we're grateful to have the group that we have. As we come out of COVID, we appreciate the support of all of our membership and I think there are some great things headed in our direction. Change is good in many ways and we can use this as a positive to springboard to the next stage of what the Chamber is going to become," Brock concluded.