A committee has begun interviewing candidates for Carthage Chamber President and Carthage Economic Development Director by telephone and they hope to have a list of finalists for in-person interviews soon.
Jo Ann Evans, Chair of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the search committee, said the group has no timetable to choose a replacement for John Bode, who announced his resignation on Nov. 19, 2009 after three years in the position.
Evans said the committee is in the second step of a three-step process it’s using to chose a new president.
She said the committee received 18 resumes for the position and it chose six to interview by phone.
“They will interview with the whole committee in conference calls,” Evans said. “Then we’ll narrow it down even further and do face to face interviews. John has been so gracious to state that he was staying on until we find someone and we know he has family issues so we want him to get on with his life as quickly as possible, but we also want to move cautiously to find a replacement.”
The search committee is composed of Evans, last year’s chairwoman Lora Phelps, Kip Smith, John Lenahan, Carthage Water and Electric Director Bob Williams and City Council Member Claude Newport.
The position is actually a combination of Chamber President and Carthage Economic Development Director. Since the city and Carthage Water and Electric Plant both contribute money to this person’s salary, the contracts between the Chamber and the city and utility call for the city and utility to have someone on the search committee any time a new president is hired.
The committee accepted resumes through Jan. 15.
