Ann Hutchison Hired as New President and CEO of Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce

The Fort Collins Chamber Board of Directors has named Ann Hutchison as the President and CEO of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce.

The hiring of Ann ends a search that started in September with the hiring of the national search firm Waverly Partners to consult on the search. Ann will succeed David May, who will be retiring at the end of this year.

“Ann is a proven leader,” said Nick Haws, Chair of the Board. “We’ve benefited from her work for 17 ½ years. Elevating her to CEO provides continuity and stability while also injecting new ideas, energy, and enthusiasm into the Chamber. From the start, we believed we had a strong CEO candidate on our own staff in Ann,” said Haws. “It was important for us to vet her with the Board and other leaders.”

Ann was born in Fort Collins and went on to earn a double major Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication/Journalism and Mass Communications from the Univesity of Northern Colorado in Greeley and began her career as a county extension agent for 4-H in Finney County, Kansas. Ann later took a position as the marketing coordinator of a regional CPA firm in Kansas.

Ann returned to Fort Collins in February of 2003 when she joined the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce. She was promoted to her Executive Vice President’s current position later after serving as the policy committee coordinator.

Ann provided management support to the Chamber’s committees, including the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Environmental Committee, and the Local Legislative Affairs Committee as the executive vice president. She has also recently been a key leader in the community, pandemic economic Response, Recovery, and Reignite efforts.

“I appreciate the Board’s confidence in me and look forward to leading the Chamber,” said Ann. “Having a strong economy and business community is foundational to having a great community.”

BizWest Forty Under 40’s inaugural class recognized Ann as a Northern Colorado Business Report Woman of Distinction in addition to being recognized as the WACE Staff Member of the Year in 2013. Ann was given her Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives in 2010.

Ann and her sister reside in Fort Collins. They are avid supporters of the local Colorado State University sports teams in addition to a variety of other educational and community initiatives. Ann plans to focus on three key topics in the coming months.

“This is overly simplistic, but three words will guide my work over the next few months: listen, economy, advocacy,” said Ann. “Being new in the role, I need to spend time listening to members and leaders about needs and challenges while focusing on rebuilding our damaged economy and advocating for business.

For more information regarding the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, visit: https://fortcollinschamber.com