(Nov. 6, 2014) After two months hanging in virtual limbo, the Berlin Chamber of Commerce has found a replacement to head its day-to-day operations.
The chamber last week tapped Jim Volk, a part-time Realtor at Hileman Real Estate Inc., as the new administrator. Joya Mattie, who had been the executive director of the chamber, stepped down on Aug. 29.
Volk, a Western Pennsylvania native, moved to Ocean Pines in 2006.
“I had been in retail management, running department stores and specialty stores for about 35 years,” Volk said. “We came out (to Berlin) with our two daughters a lot to visit while they were growing up, so we’ve always loved this area. My wife, who is a special ed teacher, and I decided to take an advantage of an opportunity that we had out here to move to the Eastern Shore, and here we rest eight years later.”
Volk ran a home staging business for three years before entering into real estate, a business he said prepared him for his role at the chamber.
“You’re interfacing constantly with people, and it’s a lot of networking,” he said.
Three years ago, Volk created the blog “The Duquesne Hunky” as an ode to the small town where he grew up.
“I have an affinity for small towns,” he said. “I started the blog, just talking about life in a small town and growing up in a small town, which was a very industrial area just outside of Pittsburgh.”
To date the site has drawn more than 400,000 hits.
“People are really interested in small towns,” Volk said. “I love writing (the blog) and when I saw the opportunity for Berlin, which pretty much fills the criteria of what my hometown used to look like, I thought this is a match made in heaven. We just always loved this area. This was the idea place to come.”
As far back as May or June, Volk said he became aware of the position at the chamber.
“That’s when I initially applied for it,” he said.
Admittedly, he had more than a few sleepless nights waiting to hear back.
“I have a tendency to keep on pressing and pushing and calling people – I have no shame when it comes to that,” he said. “One of my friends who used to be a fellow Realtor is a deejay buddy with Bulldog (Bulldog Rothner, 98.1 station manager) so they’re in the same studio. I had a lot of people asking questions for me.
“I came to find out they were transitioning and making decisions as far as what type of position it was going to be, how big of a position, etc.,” Volk continued. “So I was patient. I had the summer in the real estate market to fill my time in the meantime, and I was really excited when I had an opportunity to actually sit down and speak to them.”
Volk met with chamber officials two week ago, then immediately went back into the wringer.
“Of course, I’m a worrywart,” he said. “They said they would be making their decisions within the next two or three days, so eight days later as I’m sitting here all despondent, I got the phone call and I was really excited.”
Volk immediately went to work, attending a Main Street Merchants Association meeting and conferring with Economic and Community Development Director Michael Day.
“I was able to be introduced at the quarterly Chamber of Commerce meeting later that evening as well,” he said.
Monday, Nov. 3 was his first official day in the office.
“I’m very, very anxious to get started, to make my mark and to move in a positive direction over there,” he said. “There’s a lot of freshness and newness on the board, and I told them we’re going to muddle through this together and I think it’s going to be very, very positive.”
Volk said the chamber is still determining if they will officially call him the new “executive director.”
“They’re deciding,” he said. “Right now I’m the only one there. My position is defined as ‘administrator,’ but the role is pretty much the same. I think they want to go through a self-evaluation process and then decide how they want to posture that particular position.”
In the meantime, Volk has two “targets” he wishes to address in his to-be-named role.
“We have the seasonal audience as an alternative to Ocean City, being able to present ourselves to tourists as a go-to place, a wonderful place to visit, great restaurants, etc. and to attract people into coming back here year after year,” he said.
“We also need to look at our full-time residents in the Worcester County area. I think we need to posture ourselves so we are an alternative to going to Salisbury or going to Walmart, that we really are a special place – not just for tourists in the summertime.
Volk also said the chamber needs to make sure it leverages the positive image bestowed upon it by being named the “Coolest Small Town” in the country.
“It’s one thing to have the title … but it doesn’t mean anything until you tell the people what it means and why we’re the ‘Coolest.’ So we can start to validate that particular title and let the people in the area know all the wonderful things that are available in Berlin.”
The Berlin Chamber of Commerce rents an office space in the town’s Visitor’s Center on 14 South Main Street. For more information, call 410-641-4775.
The chamber last week tapped Jim Volk, a part-time Realtor at Hileman Real Estate Inc., as the new administrator. Joya Mattie, who had been the executive director of the chamber, stepped down on Aug. 29.
Volk, a Western Pennsylvania native, moved to Ocean Pines in 2006.
“I had been in retail management, running department stores and specialty stores for about 35 years,” Volk said. “We came out (to Berlin) with our two daughters a lot to visit while they were growing up, so we’ve always loved this area. My wife, who is a special ed teacher, and I decided to take an advantage of an opportunity that we had out here to move to the Eastern Shore, and here we rest eight years later.”
Volk ran a home staging business for three years before entering into real estate, a business he said prepared him for his role at the chamber.
“You’re interfacing constantly with people, and it’s a lot of networking,” he said.
Three years ago, Volk created the blog “The Duquesne Hunky” as an ode to the small town where he grew up.
“I have an affinity for small towns,” he said. “I started the blog, just talking about life in a small town and growing up in a small town, which was a very industrial area just outside of Pittsburgh.”
To date the site has drawn more than 400,000 hits.
“People are really interested in small towns,” Volk said. “I love writing (the blog) and when I saw the opportunity for Berlin, which pretty much fills the criteria of what my hometown used to look like, I thought this is a match made in heaven. We just always loved this area. This was the idea place to come.”
As far back as May or June, Volk said he became aware of the position at the chamber.
“That’s when I initially applied for it,” he said.
Admittedly, he had more than a few sleepless nights waiting to hear back.
“I have a tendency to keep on pressing and pushing and calling people – I have no shame when it comes to that,” he said. “One of my friends who used to be a fellow Realtor is a deejay buddy with Bulldog (Bulldog Rothner, 98.1 station manager) so they’re in the same studio. I had a lot of people asking questions for me.
“I came to find out they were transitioning and making decisions as far as what type of position it was going to be, how big of a position, etc.,” Volk continued. “So I was patient. I had the summer in the real estate market to fill my time in the meantime, and I was really excited when I had an opportunity to actually sit down and speak to them.”
Volk met with chamber officials two week ago, then immediately went back into the wringer.
“Of course, I’m a worrywart,” he said. “They said they would be making their decisions within the next two or three days, so eight days later as I’m sitting here all despondent, I got the phone call and I was really excited.”
Volk immediately went to work, attending a Main Street Merchants Association meeting and conferring with Economic and Community Development Director Michael Day.
“I was able to be introduced at the quarterly Chamber of Commerce meeting later that evening as well,” he said.
Monday, Nov. 3 was his first official day in the office.
“I’m very, very anxious to get started, to make my mark and to move in a positive direction over there,” he said. “There’s a lot of freshness and newness on the board, and I told them we’re going to muddle through this together and I think it’s going to be very, very positive.”
Volk said the chamber is still determining if they will officially call him the new “executive director.”
“They’re deciding,” he said. “Right now I’m the only one there. My position is defined as ‘administrator,’ but the role is pretty much the same. I think they want to go through a self-evaluation process and then decide how they want to posture that particular position.”
In the meantime, Volk has two “targets” he wishes to address in his to-be-named role.
“We have the seasonal audience as an alternative to Ocean City, being able to present ourselves to tourists as a go-to place, a wonderful place to visit, great restaurants, etc. and to attract people into coming back here year after year,” he said.
“We also need to look at our full-time residents in the Worcester County area. I think we need to posture ourselves so we are an alternative to going to Salisbury or going to Walmart, that we really are a special place – not just for tourists in the summertime.
Volk also said the chamber needs to make sure it leverages the positive image bestowed upon it by being named the “Coolest Small Town” in the country.
“It’s one thing to have the title … but it doesn’t mean anything until you tell the people what it means and why we’re the ‘Coolest.’ So we can start to validate that particular title and let the people in the area know all the wonderful things that are available in Berlin.”
The Berlin Chamber of Commerce rents an office space in the town’s Visitor’s Center on 14 South Main Street. For more information, call 410-641-4775.