Finding a replacement for Princeton chamber CEO Kristin S. Appelget
By: Lauren Otis
In the four years she has led the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Kristin S. Appelget has taken the organization on a steady upward trajectory, by all accounts. Her recent announcement that she will leave the chamber to take a position as Princeton University’s director of community and regional affairs has thrown chamber officials into the unenviable position of having to replace a dynamic, visible and extremely well thought of leader, while maintaining continuity and momentum at an organization which has grown by leaps and bounds under Ms. Appelget’s four-year tenure.
"Kristin will be impossible to replace, but we have to find a successor," is how chamber Chairman Karen Jezierny succinctly put it.
"Kristin brought the chamber to the level it is at through her hard work, incredible abilities, and genuine interest in the community, the business community," said Ms. Jezierny. Now, the chamber has to find "someone with the skills, ability, talent, and the wisdom to take this organization to the next level," she said.
Ms. Jezierny, director of public affairs at Princeton University, is leading the chamber’s presidential search committee. Her team includes chamber Vice Chairman Lawrence Krampf, president of Pennington-based Princeton Communications Group; Michael Hierl, president of Pacesetter Group in Princeton; Melissa Tenzer, president and owner of the Lawrenceville CareersUSA franchise, and Kathie Morolda, owner of Cranbury Station Gallery in Palmer Square. Herb Greenberg, president of Caliper Corp. in Princeton, has also joined the search committee, providing his firm’s resources for the task of identifying the next chamber president and CEO.
Under Ms. Appelget’s leadership the chamber went from 300 members to approximately 1,000 members today, said Mr. Krampf. Ms. Appelget also oversaw the chamber’s move to downtown Princeton from the Princeton Forrestal Center in Plainsboro. "We want to continue the momentum that Kristin has started," he noted.
"Kristin Appelget was the perfect president," said Ms. Morolda, who is on the search committee representing the interests of the Borough Merchants of Princeton.
"One of the things that was so wonderful about Kristin is she had the ability to talk with all the big corporations out on Route 1, as well as the smallest independently owned business here downtown," said Ms. Morolda. She said she hoped Ms. Appelget’s successor had the same ability to move effortlessly through the diverse Princeton-area business community, between Fortune 500 corporations and small businesses. "We’ll see," she added.
"It’s been really exciting for me. I’ve enjoyed every day, it is somewhat bittersweet for me to leave," said Ms. Appelget.
In early April, Ms. Appelget announced she would be leaving the chamber for Princeton University, succeeding Pam Hersh as director of community and regional affairs. Ms. Hersh left the university in March to become vice president for government and community affairs at Princeton HealthCare System.
May 12 will be Ms. Appelget’s last day at the chamber, and after what she called a 10-day "mental health" break, she will start at the university on May 22, where she will oversee the university’s relationships with the five municipalities and two counties Princeton Borough and Princeton Township; West Windsor, Plainsboro and South Brunswick townships; and Mercer and Middlesex counties in which it is located. Ms. Appelget announced that, effective May 8, she would also be resigning from the West Windsor Township Council, on which she has served since 1999, to remove any potential or perceived conflicts of interest resulting from university ownership of properties in West Windsor.
The opportunity at Princeton University "is probably the one and only thing that would tear me away" from the Princeton chamber, Ms. Appelget said. "I was not looking for a job," she noted, but "from the perspective of long-term career growth (the university position) was something I had to look at."
"The great part is I get to stay involved in the community," Ms. Appelget said of her new position.
Ms. Appelget said she has been asked by the chamber to participate in the search process for her replacement. Of the CEO job "the variety is what makes it really fun," she said. Interacting with, and making the chamber’s resources available to, both large and small businesses, as well as greater Princeton’s large array of arts, cultural and other non-profit organizations "we consider them a vital a part of the business community whether they pay taxes or not," she said is a critical component of the chamber president’s job, according to Ms. Appelget.
Her successor should maintain the chamber’s focus on its membership, making sure all initiatives tie back to a need or urge on the part of members, Ms. Appelget said. "This is not a figurehead position. It is a worker position. (The chamber CEO) has to be someone who can roll up their sleeves and get involved," she said.
Ms. Jezierny, said it would be "terrific" if the chamber were able to find another president with ties to the Princeton area community. "We certainly benefited from Kristin’s roots in the Princeton region," she said. A fourth-generation resident of West Windsor, Ms. Appelget joined the chamber in 2002 after a career in the financial services industry, most recently at UBS PaineWebber.
"We did a nationwide search last time and we found Kristin right under our nose," Ms. Jezierny said. Identifying another qualified person who is already in the community and knows about the Princeton region would be "a real plus," said Ms. Jezierny. "That said, that is not the only qualification we are looking for so we are conducting a national search" for Ms. Appelget’s replacement, she added.
Although Ms. Appelget did not come from a chamber of commerce background, of her replacement "it would be good to get someone from the chamber world," said Mr. Krampf. Other qualifications the search committee is looking for would be a degree in business administration, extensive marketing or public relations experience and "five years of management experience at a minimum, at the CEO level," he said. Additionally, a background in development and fundraising, and leadership experience with volunteers, are critical in a candidate, he added.
Although certain qualifications are important, "the search committee is being extra open-minded" when it comes to seeking a replacement for Ms. Appelget, said Ms. Jezierny. So far the response has been good.
"Immediately after Kristin’s announcement, we began to receive inquiries, expressions of interest, resumes, before we even started a formal search," she said. "We have a couple of great possible candidates already," said Mr. Krampf.
After careful vetting, the search committee intends to present a short list of two to four finalists to the chamber board of directors by late May (the next scheduled board meeting is May 17), said Ms. Jezierny. Allowing for negotiations with a prospective candidate, the chamber would hope to secure a replacement for Ms. Appelget "sometime over the summer," Ms. Jezierny said.
Ms. Jezierny and Mr. Krampf both said they were grateful that the organization was able to benefit from Ms. Appelget’s talent for even four years. "I think it was a matter of time before there was another opportunity for Kristin," said Ms. Jezierny.
"We were just fortunate to get four years out of Kristin, she is a superstar," Mr. Krampf said. "Now let’s keep it going" with the next chamber CEO, he added.