Wade VanEvery Elected as the President of the Montana Association of Chamber Executives

Local chambers across Montana elected Wade VanEvery as the 2013 President of the Montana Association of Chamber Executives (MACE) recently.  The fall meeting of the organization was held October 4-5 in Big Sky, Montana, with the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce hosting this annual meeting.  MACE is the professional development, continuing-education effort of chamber of commerce in Montana.

VanEvery serves as 1st Vice President through the end of 2012.  Other 2013 officers elected were Mike Mergenthaler of the Helena Chamber as 1st VP and Bruce Solberg of the Bigfork Chamber as 2nd VP.  Steve Malicott of the Great Falls Chamber will finish his current year as President and serve as Immediate Past President next year.  Webb Brown and Jessica Nolan of the Montana Chamber of Commerce were re-elected as Treasurer and Secretary, respectively.

The meeting included over 30 attendees from 14 chambers.  Keynote speaker Jeff Kline, President of Accrinet Corporation, brought his wealth of social media experience to help members keep current with technology and member communication.  Other presenters included the US Chamber of Commerce on national issues, Montana Chamber of Commerce on healthcare, and panels on local chamber members and membership sales and retention.  Members also participated in roundtables on a variety of topics.

Northwestern Energy and Montana Chamber Choices health insurance program sponsored the meeting in Big Sky, along with organizational sponsors BlueCross BlueShield of Montana, PPL Montana, Allied Waste Services, Liberty Mutual, Montana State Fund, and Mountain West Companies.  The next meeting will be in May, 2013 in Sidney.