Esparza resigns--Chamber once again searching for a new leader
Chamber chief pursues opportunities in Sacto
By Gloria I. Wang
For the third time in the recent past, the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce is searching for an executive director.
Anna Esparza, who has held the position since December, left the job May 24 to pursue other opportunities in Sacramento.
Prior to Esparza, Janice Balfour served as the executive director from April to August 2001, but left for personal reasons.
Esparza will put her San Jose home on the market and plans to move into a loft in Sacramento in September. In the meantime, she will take on some temporary projects and consider the various job offers that she has received.
The departure had nothing to do with the position itself or the town, Esparza said. As a matter of fact, Esparza said, she loved the Chamber and she loved getting to know the merchants in town. After a dismal beginning--dealing with the inclement weather affecting the Chamber's holiday carriage rides--things got better. "As soon as you get your bearings, [Los Gatos] is a really great place to be," Esparza said.
"Just when the going got good, I'm ready to leave," she added.
According to Greg Stowers, president of the Chamber's board of directors, Esparza's list of accomplishments over the past six months include communicating with downtown merchants on the town's N. Santa Cruz Avenue streetscape project, attracting new members and working on the Chamber directory for the next fiscal year. Esparza left in the middle of the reorganization of the Chamber's offices.
"Her moving on is definitely a loss to us," Stowers said, "but we really benefited from her skills."
Esparza said she is proud of the networking that she was able to do; as executive director she managed to match up merchants that had coinciding needs and services--"being able to identify a win-win opportunity where merchants could help each other," Esparza said.
Esparza said she also loved sharing details about the businesses to visitors, as well as making friends in town.
Esparza's announcement of resignation was "basically a shock to us all but understandable," Stowers said. In response, the board of directors focused on handling the transition "calmly and smoothly."
Diane McNutt, a former board member, said the Chamber will let its existing staff members run the organizations instead of hiring an official interim executive director, as it has in the past. According to McNutt, the Chamber recently added a temporary administrative staff member who will help take on the executive director's workload.
McNutt said that the Chamber will post the job opening on various websites sometime this week.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
