Troutman tapped to lead chamber
A wide net was cast in search of the next leader of the area’s economic development efforts, but the selection committee found its man within its own ranks.
Gary Troutman is the “hometown guy” committee members said they were looking for to head The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and Hot Springs Metro Partnership. He’ll succeed Jim Fram as the two nonprofit economic development corporations’ current CEO/president effective Sept. 18.
Troutman, a member of the chamber’s executive board of directors since 2013 and incoming board chairman prior to his selection as CEO/president, was initially on the selection committee but recused when he decided to apply for the job.
He was one of 24 applicants and two finalists, Fram said, noting that six candidates interviewed for the job that was advertised extensively as part of a “lengthy, transparent and detailed process.”
Troutman, who’s served as vice president of First Security Bank since 2015, told those gathered at the chamber offices for Wednesday’s announcement that the experiences peculiar to him as a third-generation Hot Springs native have instilled a sense of place he can share with business and industry looking to bring capital and jobs to new areas.
The story will be told from the perspective of someone whose late grandfather, Roy, owned a barbershop on Ouachita Avenue, and whose late father, Bill, was the proprietor of a local tire shop. The appreciation he spoke of Wednesday for the risk and sacrifice business owners assume was gleaned from them. It’s an appreciation he said he’s eager to express to the more than 900 businesses on the chamber’s membership roles.
Troutman said his mother, Bobbie, is also essential to the perspective he’ll share. The former director of nursing at Levi Hospital, her sense of community has manifested in Troutman through his involvement on numerous boards and civic organizations.
“I want to tell our story,” Troutman, whose wife, Michelle, teaches
at Lake Hamilton Junior High, said. “I think it’s a story that no other city in the state has.”
Troutman returned to Hot Springs in 2010 when he was named general manager of The Sentinel-Record after spending the previous decade with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
He said Wednesday that overseeing his hometown newspaper put him at the nexus of the community, fostering a civic involvement that was the prologue to Wednesday’s announcement.
Troutman said their methods may very, but he believes all of the community’s government and business leaders share the same motive.
“At the end of the day, all any of us want to do is see our community thrive and prosper,” he said. “We all have good intentions in mind.”
Fram said he’ll assume a staff position with the chamber and metro partnership through the end of the year. Partnership Chairman James Montgomery said the businesses and local governments that invest in the two organizations wanted Fram to help direct the transition in leadership.
Fram said his post-chamber plans are focused on starting a consulting business providing economic development services to small communities.