A Virtual Meeting with New Haverhill Chamber CEO Irene Haley

The new president and CEO of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce will be “Guest of Honor” at tomorrow’s Virtual Leads Lunch hosted by the organization.Irene Haley took over job last month. Speaking recently on WHAV’s morning program, Haley praised her predecessor Dougan Sherwood“Dougan did some excellent work with support, of course, of the board and I am very interested in keeping a lot of the programs going and making sure our members and stakeholders—people who have faith in the Chamber—know that I’ll continue that work and I’m excited to understand more about how I can influence not only the strategy but some of the program we have going forward,” she said.Haley’s career began in accounting, but she decided a change was in order during the 1990s when she returned to school an obtained a master’s in Business Administration from Boston University. She went on to answer the call from Mobil Oil about a new program the fuel giant offered, called “Friendly Serve.” The position entailed working with owners of gas stations, greeting people at the pump, checking oil and tire pressure and making sure stations are clean.“From there, I was in a variety of roles. I was a terminal supervisor. I got a chance to—apparently not many of you got a chance to do this—I’ve been in oil tanks, I’ve been on a gasoline delivery truck and for a couple of years and really spent 14 great years at Mobil doing a variety of jobs. Mobil decided to change how they operate. That meant my role would be changing and it was another kind of crossroads for me,” she noted.At that point, Haley spent eight years as Starbucks Boston-area regional director before deciding on another change, looking for a position that would let her help others with their own development and professional journey.“And when I saw the work of the Chamber, and understand their why in terms of an inclusive economic development plan, putting together programs that help everybody be successful and also being part of a transition as the City of Haverhill evolves, it just seemed something that really could be a good fit for me, and aligned with what I think is important as well. And that’s how I ended up in Haverhill,” Haley explained.The Virtual Leads Lunch takes place tomorrow, Feb. 3, from noon-1 p.m. Registration is available at haverhillchamber.com.Support the show