The Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce and its board of directors are pleased to announce, after a competitive search over the past several months, that they have hired a new executive director, Rick Prose.

Prose, a local resident for many years, is excited at the opportunity to become the next executive director. He and his wife, the Reverend Barbara Prose, have been living in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she serves the largest Unitarian-Universalist congregation in the country.

“Returning permanently to Boothbay Harbor is something we have not only been planning, but looking forward to,” said Prose.

He will be wrapping up his work with Tulsa Habitat for Humanity in anticipation of his new position at the Chamber. His professional career has spanned several decades and multiple disciplines. His experience includes his work as a custom wooden boat builder, the management of a local coastal resort, and as an integral part of the local community television station. Perhaps most significantly, he was a founder and executive director of lowernine.org, where he developed a rebuilding program using skilled professionals and volunteers to help rebuild homes in the storm ravaged Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

“It was a thoughtful, deliberate selection process, with each final candidate with their own unique strengths,” said Alan Baldwin, currently serving as board secretary. “We felt it was important to find someone with a strong understanding of the local community, to help further the mission of the chamber.”

Prose will officially assume his duties as executive director on January 18, 2016.