Detroit Regional Chamber > Chamber > Barry Matherly Hired as CEO for New Business Attraction and Regional Marketing Entity

Barry Matherly Hired as CEO for New Business Attraction and Regional Marketing Entity

November 1, 2018
On Nov. 1, 2018, Barry Matherly was named CEO for the new business attraction and regional marketing entity. Matherly, nationally recognized by peers for his leadership and expertise in business attraction, will transition from his current role leading the Greater Richmond Partnership – a similar initiative in Virginia.

Matherly will begin leading the new entity, co-created by the Detroit Regional Chamber, in January 2019. The new entity will build upon the Chamber’s award-winning Destination Detroit business attraction program. At launch, the Chamber’s existing staff in this area will join Matherly to form the basis of the new entity and seed the start up operations with an existing pipeline of projects and performance metrics. To drive efficiency and coordination, Matherly and staff will be co-located at the Chamber offices, so we will be working closely together.

Matherly was selected due to his proven track record for regional business attraction. The Richmond metropolitan region, comprised of county suburbs and an urban core, benefited from Matherly’s professional, diplomatic, unified approach to bring the region together. During its 2017–2018 fiscal year, the Greater Richmond Partnership’s work resulted in 20 economic development projects and 1,623 new jobs for residents in addition to taxable capital investment for governments. A certified economic developer, Matherly has more than 24 years of experience and serves on the Executive Board of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma, where he is also an institute instructor.

A search committee comprised of Chamber President and CEO Sandy Baruah and executive leaders from regional businesses including DTE Energy, PNC, PwC, Quicken Loans Family of Companies and Strategic Staffing Solutions, recommended Matherly’s selection. To gain input and ensure agreement, the search committee arranged for Matherly to meet with key city and county leaders as well as regional economic development professionals before making the final selection. The initial board of directors for the new entity approved Matherly’s selection as CEO.

The Chamber looks forward to welcoming Barry Matherly to Southeast Michigan and working collaboratively to drive business investment and jobs. The Chamber is 100 percent committed to ensuring the new entity’s transition and start up is a success.