Chamber Taps Moore
As Interim Director
By M. D. Drysdale

The new leadership at the Randolph Chamber of Commerce. Susan LaFlamme, left, is the administrative assistant; Judith Moore is interim executive director. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

The woman who founded and charted a course for The Sharon Academy for 10 years is now being asked to chart a course for the Randolph Chamber of Commerce.

Judith Moore of Sharon has been selected as an interim executive director for a period of up to one year, according to Chamber President Joe Boyd.

She will help the Chamber board conduct "a major review" of the Chamber’s activities, he said.

Moore will also coordinate daily activities, but she will have an administrative assistant to help with those tasks. The Chamber selected Susan LaFlamme for that role.

LaFlamme owns and operates the "Nestled Inn" in Bethel. She will provide at least 20 hours of office coverage each week and will answer inquiries from the public and members.

In founding The Sharon Academy, Moore gained a reputation for creative thinking and strong team-building. She started the school with only a dozen students and oversaw its growth to providing full middle school and high school programs out of a new building off Route 14 south of Sharon.

Her resume also features "a unique mixture of international experience and local involvement," Boyd noted. Her fresh viewpoint will be valuable, he said.

"We want to look at what the Chamber is and what it can be—how we relate to and benefit the community we intend to serve," he explained.

"The main thing is envisioning what directions we want to go in, and to put systems in place," Moore said in a telephone interview.

"What is the image of the Chamber?

"What might we want to change?

"How can we keep current with other organizations in town and develop a more meaningful liaison?"

The task will begin with a survey sent out first to the Chamber board and then to all members, that should be out within three weeks.

She estimated she will be working 25 or more hours a week in the new position.

LaFlamme will be working 20 hours a week holding down the day-to-day business at the Chamber office on Route 66.

She moved from Massachusetts six years ago to run the Bethel bed and breakfast.

She had worked at the Boston Medical Center, but with four grown children, she sought a change in lifestyle, she told The Herald.

Boyd said the search for a permanent executive director has been suspended but will likely be re-started in a few weeks.

He noted that the Chamber seems to be primarily in the business of "running events" and should perhaps have a wider focus, including more promotional work, and serving as a voice for Randolph in the political arena.

It’s also possible "that we are doing some things that we don’t need to do," he noted.

In his new team, he thinks he has the capabilitiy to run the organization while taking a new look at the big picture.