Murray hands over reins at North Chamber
Retirement is one of the few things Wendy Murray has not been good at.
However, she seems willing to give it another try in hopes that maybe, this time, it will stick.
Murray has retired as executive director of the North Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce, a job she has had since 2020.
Toni Rae Hurley, a North Fort Myers resident, has become the new executive director of the Chamber Foundation and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, which Murray said is how the national Chambers have evolved.
Murray said she decided to retire about three months ago and is ready to move on to play golf, tennis and enjoy herself.
“I’m going to give my last retirement a better chance. I have found the perfect candidate to take it over, so I’m leaving it in very good hands,” Murray said. “I wanted to find a perfect candidate before I left.”
Murray’s background includes various management positions with the Breeze Newspapers, where she was instrumental in the founding of new print products, including the North Fort Myers Neighbor.
She then started Affordable Cremations, No Place Like Home Senior Care, which she later expanded, and Senior Life Magazine.
The North Chamber had not had an executive director for nearly five years before Murray took over. Chris Jackson had been the last one, but he resigned in 2015. The Chamber board had assumed the position.
Murray, who has been involved with the Chamber for 35 years, had been Chamber president and said at the time she wasn’t looking to become director.
However, she was recruited by president John Gardner for the position as he knew she could bring in new businesses.
Other candidates were mostly out of state and didn’t have the institutional knowledge Murray had.
“She called me and told me she was bored and didn’t know what to do with herself,” Gardner said. “I said she should be director of the Chamber. I couldn’t think of anybody better because Wendy has been here forever and she lives and breathes North Fort Myers.”
The Chamber had fewer than 100 businesses when she took over. And when the pandemic hit just after she became director, it looked like the organization could be in serious trouble. Murray was able to not only ride out the storm, but made the Chamber thrive again. By the end of 2021, it had more than 150 members a 50% increase in a year. It has 165 members currently.
Murray said she only planned to be executive director for about a year, just long enough to get the Chamber back on solid footing. She took a short break but agreed to return to the post.
Murray led the Chamber through a pandemic and three hurricanes, including Ian in 2022. She decided to stay on through that.
Murray also brought back a lot of the events the Chamber held in the past. Among them were the Chamber Awards and Honorary Mayor. She also brought back the Chamber luncheons, After Hours and breakfast meet-and-greets after the pandemic.
When the Shell Factory closed last year, Murray found the Chamber a new home at Paradise Vintage Market.
Murray said she still plans to volunteer for the Chamber.