Ellis hired as the director for the Harmony Chamber of Commerce

By News Team
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Fri, Apr 29th, 2011
Posted in Business Announcements

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Emily Ellis has been hired as the new director of the Harmony Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Jade Wangen

The Harmony Chamber of Commerce has been operating without a director for many years, but that changed recently when Emily Ellis was hired for the job.

Ellis lived in Macedonia for eight years, but returned to Harmony last June with her two sons. Coming back to Harmony was a dream come true for Ellis.

"I feel like I left myself in Harmony," shared Ellis. "I missed my family, and everybody knowing my name. I hadn't had that in eight years."

When Ellis returned home to her family farm, she found work in Rochester. But she didn't like spending so much time away from her children. While living overseas, Ellis worked for international corporations and non-profit organizations doing event planning and fund raising. When she saw the ad in the paper for the director of the Chamber of Commerce, she jumped at the chance.

"I thought it would be great to promote Harmony, because I love it, and I want others to love it, too," said Ellis. "I thought with the skills I gained it would be a great fit for this position."

As the Chamber director, Ellis will be taking over duties that the board had been doing. She will be working half time, but during busy times she will be working more. Ellis explained that her job consists of doing the bookwork for the chamber, planning and organizing events in Harmony, writing grants, promoting Harmony, marketing, and trying to get new members.

The new job also allows Ellis to be closer to her kids and be able to spend more time with them. "This is heaven for me," said Ellis. "I work in Harmony with people I know and love and help them make their businesses better, and make their events wonderful."

This first year Ellis will be spending a lot of time getting to know the ins and outs of the job. She will be organizing and planning the 12 events that will be in Harmony this year, which started with the Easter egg hunt and will include things like Family Fun Night and the Fourth of July celebration. She will discover what works and what doesn't work when planning these events and promoting the town, and next year she hopes they can expand.

Ellis said she wants to branch out even more and help make Harmony exactly what they want it to be, and to bring more people into the town.

Marilyn Trouten, who is in charge of the tourism office, will be retiring at the end of the season. When she is done, Ellis will also take over staffing and administration of the tourism office.

A reception was held at the Visitor's Center on April 28 to honor the new chamber director. Several of the 90 Chamber members were present to welcome her to her new position.

"Just being in Harmony makes me happy," said Ellis. "It's going to be a lot of fun; there are a lot of positive people in town."

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