[Vision2020] New Director Has Big Plans for Moscow Chamber

[Tom Hansen]

Mr. Darrel Keim:  If you would be so kind as to comment on this article, 
and more particularly) Steve Hacker's potential as a director of the 
Moscow Chamber of Commerce, it would be sincerely appreciated.

Courtesy of today's (January 16, 2009) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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New director has big plans for Moscow chamber

Hacker hopes to bring new elements to local economy

By Tara Roberts Daily News staff writer
January 16, 2009

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Steve Hacker
http://www.dnews.com/images/2948964.jpg

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Steve Hacker's first mission as the new Moscow Chamber of Commerce 
executive director is to meet as many members of the local business 
community as possible.

"By meeting them, that means listening to them," he said.

Hacker, 37, was named to the post earlier this week and Thursday was his 
first day on the job. He's still getting his bearings but is eager to hear 
how people want him to lead the chamber.

Hacker said he will build his long-term goals based on what he hears from 
chamber members in the coming weeks.

One big idea he would like to pursue is to create "two viable, long-term, 
sustainable economies" for Moscow. He knows the University of Idaho makes 
up much of the city's lifeblood but he would like to add something else.

He doesn't yet know what that will be, but he plans to base it on "what 
the business community sees that as."

Hacker said he also would like to continue some of the chamber's current 
successful programs, but declined to list any specifically.

"We have good programs, we have good staff and we have a great board, and 
I'm going to let them guide me," he said.

Hacker replaces Darrell Keim, who left the chamber in October. He is the 
fourth director in less than two years.

Hacker said he has plans to stick with the post.

"We've made a commitment to our children that this is where they're going 
to grow up," he said. "You'd almost have to drag me away."

Hacker, his wife, Traci, and their three children moved to town in June, 
but the Tennessee native already had a history with Moscow.

He earned his master's degree in forest resources at the University of 
Idaho in 2004. He chose the school because he'd never been to the 
Northwest before and wanted to go somewhere new that offered the fishing, 
hunting and outdoor experiences he loves.

He returned to Knoxville, Tenn., to work as an area forester for the state 
of Tennessee. The Hackers soon realized they wanted to settle somewhere 
else when their children started commenting on the number of police sirens 
they could hear in their neighborhood.

They wanted a safe place that still offered a variety of cultural 
experiences, and Moscow was "a great fit."

"Your kids can play outside and you don't have to worry about them so 
much," he said.

Hacker previously worked as a traveling business manager for his brother's 
company, Pro Paintless, a national company that helps people whose 
vehicles are damaged in severe hailstorms. He searched for a permanent, in-
town job and was pleased to find the chamber position.

"I wanted an opportunity that would allow us to get involved in the 
community," he said.

Hacker also has worked in financial management and hospital accounts 
management and was a board member for his local Boys and Girls Clubs of 
America. He said his "melting pot of experience" in a variety of 
industries - public, private and nonprofit - will help him in his new job.

Leading the chamber will be much like working for other public entities, 
he said.

"Every time you go out there you have to represent the Chamber of 
Commerce," he said.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"For a lapsed Lutheran born-again Buddhist pan-Humanist Universalist 
Unitarian Wiccan Agnostic like myself there's really no reason ever to go 
to work."

- Roy Zimmerman


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