Cape Convention and Visitors Bureau chief taking new job

After 13 years at the helm of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, Chuck Martin is stepping down to take a position as executive director of the Missouri Travel Council.

The announcement came last week Martin had gotten the job, filling the seat of current executive director Pat Amick, who announced her intention to retire earlier this summer.

"I am genuinely excited about this new position," he said. "They have so many great members. I have some big shoes to fill."

He has been involved with many of the projects residents now see as landmarks, such as the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, the Red House Interpretive Center, Red Star access and the floodwall murals. All added value to the community and have helped draw residents and visitors.

Martin said he'd been contemplating stepping down from his current position but pursued the opening after Amick's announcement.

"Essentially, it just had me take a step back and re-evaluate what my post-CVB career would be like," he said.

John Mehner, president and CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, hired Martin 13 years ago. He said Martin was an ideal candidate at the time and turned out to be an ideal leader.

"At the time, he had excellent experience operating not-for-profit organizations," he said. "He was a good thinker, and he understood how to get things done. And at the time, the CVB needed all those things."

When asked whether any of the accomplishments or projects in which Martin played a role stood out, Mehner said it wouldn't be fair to choose from over a decade of successes.

"I will say this, though -- he understood the mission of the CVB, and that's what he did every day in that organization," he said.

Randy Kluge, CVB advisory board member and Drury Southwest director of hotels, said Martin's contributions speak for themselves in things such as hotel-booking statistics.

"Prior to Chuck coming on board, in my opinion, we really struggled to market and promote hospitality-related businesses," he said. "Chuck has done an outstanding job. He's put together a team down there at the CVB [that's] really dynamic. They work on the sales side and on penetrating social media."

Martin is quick to chalk up successes in large part to his staff.

"If there's one thing that I'm really going to miss about working here, it's the people that I work with," he said, adding they're not only hardworking, but considerate, as evidenced by the "Happy Boss's Day" balloon they gave him in his office.

With his CVB team and local businesses, Martin said the Cape Girardeau community has reached "the next level" compared with where it was a decade or more ago.

He also believes the area is positioned for more growth.

"With full confidence, I think I can say that [the next Cape CVB director] will be able to take it to the next level," he said.

Kluge seemed to speak for the majority of Martin's co-workers when he summed up how he felt about Martin's leaving.

"Chuck has been a joy to work with. He's so organized, always looking for ways to promote our city," he said. "He helped create Cape Girardeau as a regional hub over the past 13 years. We're definitely gonna miss Chuck."

tgraef@semissourian.com

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