OakStar Bank has hired a nine-year Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce executive for a newly created role.
Brent McCoy, who joined the chamber in his current role as vice president of membership in fall 2006, is scheduled to start Sept. 28 as OakStar’s vice president of business development and commercial lending. His last day at the chamber is scheduled Sept. 25.
“In this position currently at the chamber, obviously I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a lot of different businesses and organizations and how they operate,” McCoy said. “From day one, I’ve always been impressed with OakStar. That culture was always of interest to me.”
In his new business development role, McCoy will work to promote OakStar’s brand in the community through relationship building in business and civic organizations.
Chamber President and CEO Matt Morrow said the organization has conducted an undisclosed number of interviews to fill McCoy’s position. While no set timeline is in place, Morrow said the chamber would like to hire a new vice president of membership in time for its Oct. 20-22 membership drive.
“More important than getting it fast is getting it right,” Morrow said.
In 2011, McCoy led a membership event in which the chamber recruited 384 volunteers and raised $202,000 over three days – an industry record. The chamber broke that record in 2013, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Typically, the chamber would advertise an open position on its website, but Morrow said that hasn’t been necessary due to the high-profile nature of McCoy’s role.
“There have been quite a few inquiries and others who I’ve reached out to myself,” Morrow said. “I’m very encouraged by the field we’re seeing so far.”
At the chamber, McCoy leads four others in his department. Jamie Fields, who had served as business development coordinator in the department, was promoted to program coordinator for Leaderhsip Springfield in July. Morrow said the chamber would advertise for her former position after filling the department’s lead role.
In August, Ann Elwell returned to the chamber to work as vice president of strategic communications, a role that, in part, took over for Maggie Kost, who left that month. The organization also hired Johnathan Saunders as public affairs coordinator in August, according to a news release.
