Bob Hastings, who took over leadership of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce at the height of the recession in early 2009 and forced a series of dramatic changes in the organization's size and focus, told members of the Chamber's executive board Thursday night that he is retiring in January.
Hastings, the imposing 6-foot-6, 63-year-old leader who took the reins of the Chamber after Michael Costello had run it for 30 years and retired in his own right in November 2008, told the Times Thursday he was bowing out in large part due to health issues after undergoing surgery to free clogged arteries to his heart this spring.
"I'm really retiring because I can," said Hastings. "My wife Donna and I have always saved for retirement to do so.
"But I had a similar (health) issue 10 years ago," said Hastings, "and the second time is a real wakeup call."
After talking with physicians and family members, Hastings said, "we all recognize the need for me to try to remove myself from stressful situations — and the chamber industry is a stressful business."
"There can be — and are — a lot of sleepless nights," he said.
Hastings, who confirmed he had to miss the Chamber's entire Small Business Week awards events this spring due to heart-related issues, said he is making the announcement now to hopefully allow a "smooth transition" to new Chamber leadership.
Chamber President Sal Frontiero of Frontiero Law Offices said Thursday that the Chamber's next steps will be the "lead topic of discussion" when the organization's executive board meets this morning.
"We are going to put together a search committee and talk about the transition and a search," Frontiero said.
"Bob has done a lot of good the time he's been here," Frontiero said. "He's had to deal with a lot of challenging times with the economy going south. And he's done a lot to see our Chamber through a very difficult and challenging period. He will not be easy to replace."
Beyond the national and local economic issues, Hastings has had to steer the Chamber through its own challenges. Taking over a Cape Ann Chamber with a purported membership of some 1,200 businesses, Hastings found early on that a number of those members were either behind on dues — by years, in some cases — while others had even gone out of businesses. The result was a dues and revenue shortfall pegged by some at up to $100,000, and Hastings took on the task of making the Chamber itself more economically viable and efficient.
"I had to make some very difficult management decisions early on," Hastings said Thursday. Those included reducing the Chamber staff by about a third, renegotiating a number of contracts, and pulling back from sponsoring events and programs that were losing money, he said.
"That first year was tough," he recalled Thursday. "But we had to clear up membership rosters. We had to do whatever we could to cut expenses while still maintaining our presence and our mission."
That mission further evolved over the last 2 1/2 years as Hastings, leading a Chamber that now lists some 870 members, shifted its focus. That shift included hiring Matter Communications public relations of Newburyport, a move that finalized a push that had come from a number of local businesses. In recent weeks — and due, in large part, to the PR push — Gloucester and Cape Ann have generated press in high-profile publications like Parade magazine and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with USA Today also having visited in recent weeks.
Hastings' changes at the Chamber have not gone without controversy and clashes with some other local business leaders.
"But you're not doing this job if you don't ruffle some feathers," said Frontiero.
As to running events, Hastings said, "there are a lot of types of events that should be run by the stakeholders," with the Chamber providing support and extending the reach of event publicity, more than coordinating and providing all of the event's working staff.
"A Chamber needs non-dues revenues," he said — with the Cape Ann Chamber's primary fund-raiser, its annual auction, set for next Thursday night at Woodman's in Essex, where donated items valued at more than $145,000 will be on the block.
"But you have to limit your direct costs and expenses, to focus on the kind of marketing and other roles that a strong Camber should play," Hastings said.
In addition, Hastings has stepped up to take a lead role on behalf of local businesses in lobbying for and against legislative changes — publicly pushing for a rollback of the state's sales tax, for example, and decrying Gloucester's 2010 hike in inn and meals taxes.
Hastings, who came here from Maine and had previously headed the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber, based in Rockland, said that, as he prepares to step aside here, he will continue to consult with local Chamber officials on specific projects, including the Chamber's annual magazine, which he primarily launched last year.
"My hope is to leave the Chamber in better shape than it was in when I fond it," Hastings said, "and I thing I'll be doing that."
"I think he has had a very good vision as for a economic growth," said Frontiero. "He had very good foresight into what direction a chamber should go, and he's done a lot of good in terms of bringing that vision forward.
"He'll be missed."
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