Executive-2019-summer

O ver the last 25 years, Nick Masino has cultivated a unique list of professional experience. He has managed private sector businesses, served in public office as the mayor of Suwanee and, for the past 12 years, led the economic development efforts for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and Partnership Gwinnett. On July 1, 2019 Masino added President and CEO of the Gwinnett Chamber to his leadership resume. Masino answered questions about what Chairman’s Club members can expect from him in his new role. Q: How is running the Chamber different than other leadership roles you’ve held? A: Where we are right now in the life of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce organization, I think I will most need to lean on the business development and business management roles I’ve had in the past, but really, this position will benefit from the trifecta that is my experience. When I served as Mayor of Suwanee, my focus was setting policy and making sure the right people were in the right roles. In my for-profit business experience, I focused on driving revenue. My role as Economic Development Officer for the Chamber was a hybrid of my public service and business experience in which I drove the growth of business and the organization. The whole of my 25 years of experience has led to NEW GWINNETT CHAMBER’S CEO’S TOP PRIORITY IS LISTENING this. I really feel like I have the ideal background to be CEO. Q: What is the first thing you will do when you take office? A: Being a leader for any organization is first and foremost about the employees and the staff, so the first thing I’m going to do is listen and be gathering information from my team. My first 90 days will be focused on internal employee- centric matters. I plan to meet individually with each of the 29 employees to see what they think is working and what needs to be tweaked. I want to hear what each person thinks and make sure there’s trust among the staff. You’re only as good as your team and I want 6 the EXECUTIVE