The Key West Chamber of Commerce will be seeking a new director — just a little over a year since their last hire.
Scott Atwell was hired as the chamber’s executive vice president in October 2019 as successor to Virginia Panico, who retired after more than 30 years with the business organization. Atwell announced his resignation on Friday, Jan. 1 in an email to the chamber board.
“I want to go on the record right now, and tell everyone that despite rumors, Virginia Panico is not coming back as executive vice president of the Key West Chamber of Commerce,” president Suzanne Moore told the Keys Weekly on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Moore said the chamber’s executive board will meet on Wednesday, Jan. 6 to discuss and decide on a path forward.
“We’ll revisit some of the candidates we discovered last year during the search for Virginia’s replacement,” Moore said. “I want to make sure we hire the right person who will fit with our community and what we want to achieve.”
After being chosen from more than 180 applicants in 2019, Atwell resigned following some highly public, internal discord with a few members of the chamber’s board of directors late in 2020.
Atwell made his decision official in a Jan. 1 email to the chamber’s board, saying he is “grateful for the extraordinary team” referring to the chamber office staff, and adding that the board “should be rightly proud of their contributions.” Among the referenced contributions, Atwell cited an increase in membership during a pandemic, the launch of a new chamber website and finishing the budget year in the black despite the challenges of 2020.
“The turn of the calendar is a great time to establish new pathways in life, and one year ago today I did just that by returning home as CEO of the Chamber,” wrote Atwell. “In 2021, I will turn to the next chapter in my professional life…I leave knowing we successfully helped the Chamber navigate a difficult year.”
Atwell has accepted a job as communications and outreach manager for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, sanctuary officials announced on Monday, Jan. 4
“I was approached about this job, and it really intrigued me as a national organization with such important local responsibilities,” Atwell told Keys Weekly on Tuesday, Jan. 5. “I hope whoever they bring in continues the community outreach we initiated,” Atwell said. “You just can’t continue the closed-off, chamber-of-yesterday mentality.”
Atwell said he was glad to be leaving on his own terms and looks forward to the new opportunity with the sanctuary.
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation announced his hiring on Monday, Jan. 4 with a press release that states Atwell “will build and strengthen community outreach and engagement efforts in the Florida Keys while raising national and international awareness of the national marine sanctuary.”
A 1979 graduate of Key West High School, Atwell holds a communications degree from the University of Miami and worked in television in Tallahassee before serving in several communications positions at Florida State University and as president and CEO of the FSU Alumni Association, the release states.
“Scott’s involvement in the Florida Keys community makes him an asset to the foundation for engaging Florida Keys businesses and residents in the stewardship and management of this unique ecosystem,” said Kris Sarri, president and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
Atwell recalled his childhood in the Keys, where his grandfather was a charter fishing captain as far back as the 1930s.
“The waters that fall within the sanctuary are the heart and soul of the entire Florida Keys community,” he said. “I’m privileged to be part of the team working to safeguard this resource for present and future generations to enjoy.”
