After nearly seven years at the helm, Jim LaBelle announced Thursday that he will be stepping down as executive director of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce + Industry.
LaBelle, 60, said he plans to stay in place and help the Chamber with its transition to new leadership.
“It’s not an easy decision because I really enjoy what I am doing,” LaBelle said during a telephone interview. “I’m just at a point in my life where I want to take a step back and focus on my personal life and goals.”
LaBelle said he is proud of his accomplishments at the Chamber, most notably a significant increase in membership, from the mid-300s to more than 460 members today.
“We have held more than 100 ribbon cuttings, and this community has experienced unprecedented economic growth,” LaBelle said. “I live in this community. I love this community, and I will be forever rooting for this community.”
LaBelle said he believes the Chamber needs to be continually evolving in order to better serve its members and the overall business community.
“The next leader will need to be visionary,” LaBelle said. “Hopefully someone a bit younger with fresh ideas to make sure that the Chamber remains relevant well into the future.”
LaBelle, known for his trademark optimism, admits that he has always been a glass-half-full person. “It’s easy to be optimistic in this community,” he said.
“He’s basically working all alone, and yet he’s always ready to dig in.
— Mayor Marty Grohman
Always looking for ways to help. It will not be easy to fill his shoes.”
Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman had nothing but praise for LaBelle and his performance as the Chamber’s executive director.
“Jim has been truly incredible,” Grohman said. “He makes it look easy, but he has done so many positive things for the community.”
A few years ago, Grohman served on the Chamber’s board of directors and today the mayor is an ex-officio member of the Chamber.
“From behind the scenes, I can tell you that Jim is one of those people. He’s the guy with the enthusiasm and the optimism. He’s basically working all alone, and yet he’s always ready to dig in. Always looking for ways to help. It will not be easy to fill his shoes.”
LaBelle said running the Chamber has not always been easy, pointing to the Covid pandemic. “You know, the Chamber is all about bringing people together, and we had to figure out how to do that without actually getting together in person,” he laughed.
LaBelle also looked for ways to capitalize on technology, and the use of social media to promote the community. During his tenure, a Chamber employee created what would become one of the area’s most prolific Facebook community groups. Today, the Biddeford+Saco Community page is no longer managed by the Chamber but has more than 18,000 members.
But for all of its benefits, social media proved to have its own pitfalls, continually requiring more time to moderate and manage the online forum.
For his part, LaBelle said he is looking forward to having some more down time. He’s not exactly sure what his future will look like, but says a change of pace will allow him the opportunity to take stock of where he is and where he wants to be.
“I have been really lucky so far,” he said. “Now, I’m just looking at the future as a blank page, but there is no doubt that I am going to miss the opportunity I had while working here.”
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