Reyes excited about future
New president and CEO has big plans
Monte Reyes received an early Christmas present last year when he was notified that he was chosen as the new president and CEO of the Porterville Chamber of Commerce.
“Christmas came early,” said Reyes, who found out the great news in mid-december.
Reyes, a current member of the Porterville City Council, said he was a bit nervous not only about whether or not he would get the highly-coveted job, but also if it was possible for him to balance out the responsibilities of being a CEO with being a council member.
To relieve himself of the anxiety, he submitted a request for an opinion to the Fair Political Practices Commission of California [FPPC] — a five-member independent, non-partisan commission that has primary responsibility for the impartial and effective administration of the Political Reform Act — to find out if it would be possible for him to do both jobs.
The Political Reform Act regulates campaign financing, conflicts of interest, lobbying, and governmental ethics.
Reyes said he received a response in the middle of November saying that he could indeed do both jobs, an answer he was happy to hear, especially since it was before the hiring process ended for the CEO position.
“At first I thought that I would receive an opinion that said I had to resign from the city council and so when I found out that I could do both I was excited,” Reyes said, adding that he was even more excited when he found out that he landed his dream job. “There were just so many thoughts going through my mind because I have been involved [with the Chamber] at the board level and as a volunteer and so just going through all of those thoughts.”
Reality really set in when Reyes started his first day on Dec. 29.
Reyes said Stephanie Cortez, who announced she was resigning from the CEO and president position last year, has been real helpful.
“She [Cortez] will still be working on contract here until the middle of the month so she will be around for me to reference,” Reyes said.
Reyes said the fulltime job is definitely “not a piece of cake,” but noted that things have been going good so far.
After years of trying to make up his mind as to whether or not he should apply for the Ceo/president position whenever there was an opening, Reyes said when Cortez announced she was leaving he felt he might as well give it a shot.
“That [applying] was in the back of my mind for a long time, but I didn’t really think about it much until I saw that Stephanie had given notice that she was going to be leaving the position,” Reyes said, adding, “That kind of just started my mind racing with the potential of being able to get into that position and really do some things to help benefit the community and the businesses in the local economy.”
As CEO and president, Reyes said there are a number of things he wants to get accomplished, one of the most important is ensuring that the youth are well equipped with skills they will need to land a job.
“I think it is important that we make the citizens of Porterville aware of the things they need to know to be in the workforce and make sure they have the opportunity to have those tools in their hands,” Reyes said.
Reyes added that preparing the youth now will enable them to put their best foot forward when looking for a job, which he believes will bring other businesses to town “because they will know that the workforce is well trained and up to speed,” he said.
To do that, Reyes said he plans on starting more workforce development activities and programs and bringing in people who can train potential members of the workforce about technology and other innovations that may be coming in the future.
“Porterville is definitely undergoing some growth and there’s a lot of businesses and industry coming to the area and I think being able to maintain in the public eye the importance of the Chamber of Commerce in relation to the local economy in creating jobs is important,” Reyes said.
In addition to continuing events the Chamber has traditionally held such as the Iris Festival, Reyes said he also plans on tailoring benefits the Chamber offers to new industries and businesses that are coming to town.
Reyes has a lot of work to do, but he said he is ready.
“I am looking forward to showing the board [Chamber Board of Directors] that I am fully capable of all the things that I had promised them during the interview,” Reyes said, adding, “I am looking forward to this year because there are a lot of great things in store for Porterville.”