Pat Crowley is set to retire October 31, 2020, as President/CEO of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, but this dedicated Hernando Beach resident isn’t going anywhere.
“I need to stay in this community. I have a passion for this community,” said Crowley. “I have a lot I want to accomplish. A lot left on my bucket list.”
Although she’d considered retirement before, Crowley remained strong and firm at the chamber’s helm; determined to help the Hernando business community weather the challenging, frightening waters of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the Chamber and in the community, we started living virtually,” she said. “There have been so many changes, and I wanted to see to our success.”
In the eyes of Donna Burdzinski, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, Crowley has accomplished this mission at the Chamber.
“During the past five months, Pat has kept the Chamber operating and at the center of our business community throughout the Corona virus crisis,” said Burdzinski in a related announcement. “She led her team to create Town Hall meetings to provide critical resources and information to our community, move the Chamber monthly membership meetings to a virtual platform so our community could continue to benefit from shared information, and insure that the Chamber’s website has been a strong resource for up-to-minute information and resources to help businesses and community members dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
After celebrating her 20th year of employment with the Chamber this spring, and her 17th year in serving as the organization’s President/CEO, Crowley decided it was time for a rest–but not before she achieves still more goals at the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce.
“My mission at the chamber remains the same, every single day–to help the businesses and people of this community be successful,” she said. “I’m going to train my successor–Morris Porton, our Chamber Government Affairs Director–so that everyone is on the same page, and doing cross training.”
Crowley also is planning Chamber events, including the Keys to Success Virtual Business Development Series Sept. 23 and 24 and December’s Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament. And she has many more Business 2 Business, monthly virtual meetings, ribbon cuttings, social media features spotlighting chamber businesses, and community business projects to plan before, in October, she finally pauses to rest.
“I want to relax for a little bit, to enjoy time on Hernando Beach and get to know my neighbors and ride my bike,” she said.
And then, it’s back to work for Pat Crowley.
“I’m on the board of directors for United Way of Hernando County, an umbrella for many great community organizations,” she said. “I have a deep passion for United Way, and I plan to stay engaged.”
And she plans to continue her work at the Chamber, as a committee member and volunteer; one dedicated to helping the businesses and associations of Hernando achieve and be their very best.
“That’s how I want to leave my footprint in Hernando,” she said.
In the eyes of Donna Burdzinski, Crowley accomplishes this mission every day at the Chamber.
“During this time, she has given much to the Chamber, and we value and appreciate her extensive knowledge, many skills, her dedication to Hernando County, and her many accomplishments,” she wrote in a related announcement. “Pat is dedicated to the Chamber and to our County, well-known and well-respected in Hernando County, as well as throughout the statewide Chamber of Commerce network, exceptionally hard-working, highly knowledgeable, and creative, and highly skilled in the art of networking and helping others to make good business connections.”
