Steele finds first two months busy as new leader of Perryville Chamber

Over her past two months as executive director for the Perryville Chamber of Commerce, Emily Steele has grown accustomed to the schedule -- if it could be called a schedule.

"It's kind of crazy," she said of her varying day-to-day activities. "There isn't really a typical day. A lot of my day is spent planning for future events."

She assumed her role June 26, replacing former director Amanda Winschel, who resigned in May.

Helping organize Perryville's Solarfest for the total solar eclipse was among Steele's first responsibilities. While there was plenty of coordination work to be done, she said the event turned out to be a less daunting task than she first anticipated.

"Fortunately, I had two things going for me," she said. "The committee that I worked with had everything pretty well in place ... and we have Mayfest every year, and so we planned Solarfest similar to that."

The other thing working in her favor, she said, was her experience planning events for the Perryville Parks and Recreation Department, where she previously served for more than four years.

"Not to this scale," she said. "But I have in the past put on events. Part of my main job [with the Perryville Parks Center] was to plan for community events."

The Cape Girardeau native earned three degrees at Southeast Missouri State University: a bachelor's in recreation, a bachelor's in business management and a master's in public administration.

The Perryville Chamber of Commerce, she said, has more than 450 member organizations.

"Everything from TG and Robinson Construction all the way down to your clubs like the Rotary Club," she said. "The first thing I have to consider is: 'What do they need? What would they benefit from chamber membership?' The needs of a larger corporation are not the same as the needs of a smaller corporation."

Determining those needs and ways to support businesses and help them network, she said, is her goal.

The chamber, she said, works closely with the Perry County Heritage Tourism Department toward that end.

"My goal right now is to kind of see where we're at as a chamber and go further with it," she said. "I've heard lots of good feedback from local businesses and business owners and they want to see more."

tgraef@semissourian.com (573) 388-3627