Republic chamber names new director

The Republic Area Chamber of Commerce named small-business owner Macy Mitchell as its new executive director.

Mitchell, who co-owns CrossFit Republic, will work on a part-time basis temporarily for the chamber, sharing responsibilities with its board, according to a news release.

"The board will partner and work diligently to ensure that all of your needs are being met as we know some of those needs were ignored in the past," said board President Britny Fulks, in the release. "Macy has high energy and is looking forward to focusing on the future of the RACC."

Reached this morning, Fulks said Mitchell succeeds Tonya Hammons, who resigned in November. Fulks said Hammons, the chamber's executive director since 2018, was not asked to step down from the organization.

The goal, Fulks said, is to get the executive director position back to full time, though a specific date has not been set. Mitchell will continue to operate CrossFit Republic while working for the chamber.

"The office will continue to be virtual, and after a review of the duties and responsibilities of the executive director, the board decided that the position will temporarily be part time, as we share responsibilities with Macy," Fulks said in the release.

The Republic chamber has around 200 members, Fulks said. She was unsure offhand of the organization's operating budget.

Mitchell comes into the economic development position during a time of growth for the city of Republic, which recently landed large-scale projects from Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Convoy of Hope.

"This is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state, attracting more large industry, small businesses and new housing than ever before," Mitchell said in a video announcing his role at the chamber. "Now more than ever, the private sector needs to step up and partner with our city, our schools, local nonprofits and the faith community to move forward as one unit."

In addition to his ownership of CrossFit Republic, Mitchell also has served as chief operations officer of his family’s business, All-American Rental and Sales, and ran for a state office. During last year's primaries, Mitchell was narrowly defeated for the District 130 state House seat by Bishop Davidson. The latter candidate would go on to beat Democrat Dave Gragg in the general election, according to Missouri secretary of state records.