Whalen named
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Beginning this week, Joe Whalen will begin to shadow Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Oliver Conover who will be retiring at the end of the month after seven years as director.
Whalen, 37, was named the new executive director of the Chamber last week after an extensive job search that brought in some 35 resumes from applicants across the country. The Chamber‚s search committee screened all the applications and sent Whalen’s name forward to the board of directors of the Chamber, which madethe announcement last week in a two-paragraph press release. Applicants were from far away states and some were from Lehigh Acres. Whalen, 37, is a local man, living in Lehigh Acres with his wife and two young children. They have lived in Lehigh for the past seven years. He has been working for the Majestic Golf Club as its director of marketing and financial consultant.
Whalen, who says he has a lot of respect for outgoing Director Conover, says he will “follow him around” for 15 or 16 days to learn some of the things he needs to know to oversee a Chamber membership of around 400 businesses.
“I am very appreciative that the local board and the executive board selected to take me on as their new executive director,” Whalen said. “I think there are a lot of bright people on the board who can help to direct me.“
Working as the executive director of a Chamber of Commerce is like a dream come true for Whalen because seven years ago, he was broad sided in his automobile by a drunk driver and he was hospitalized in a coma for 53 days and not expected to live. The accident happened in Arizona while he was in college and doctors didn‚t give his family much hope that he would survive, and if he did, that he may have brain damage and not be able to care for himself.
But Whalen proved the doctors wrong and did survive and went on to finish college to earn a third degree. But he spent a year in Lehigh recuperating from the accident that nearly claimed his life. Whalen has a master of business administration (MBA) degree from Arizona State University, where he had been awarded a full scholarship. He also holds a juris doctorate degree (JD) from the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables; and he holds a bachelor of arts (BA) degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa in 1997. He was chosen as the closing speaker for graduation for the commencement ceremony.
At the time of his accident, he was a second year MBA student at the university in Arizona.
“You know, I may never have been here to have gotten this job if that accident had not happened,” he said. Friends and family call it a miracle that he lived and Whalen knows God played a big role in his survival.
He is married to his wife, Jennifer, and they have a 2-year-old son and a 3-month-old son. Whalen enjoys his family life and his activities at the New Life Assembly of God Church, where he is also an active member of the Men’s Group.
It’s a group of 40 men, of which 25 to 30 meet every Thursday night to work at things to help their members.
Whalen says he has several goals as the Chamber’s new director, one of which is to increase the membership by working with the membership director. Some members have fallen off due to the ailing economy. Whalen wants to help to make the business community successful and to bring in as many members as possible. He also said he wants to “bring the community together” following the split by many over incorporation.
“There was a vote over incorporation and the people spoke. Now it is time to move on to other things. We should come together as a business and people community. We need to meet the needs of local businesses and become a voice for the community,” he said.
Because of his previous work, he knows people like State Sen. Dave Aronberg and commissioners like Frank Mann who represents this area on the Lee County Commission. Being able to pick up the phone and call some of these people and get through is a big plus for the Chamber.
“As for Lehigh, I think we are at the cross-roads and we know where we want to go. Now we need to just start down the road.”
Whalen officially takes over the job on Jan. 2. Later in the month, there will be the Chamber’s annual banquet in which new members will be installed and a new chairman or president of the board sworn in.
That night will likely be the first time for most of the members to see Whalen as the annual banquet is usually well attended.