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Chamber CEO’s resignation is loss to city, gain to school district

Dear Editor,

I was sincerely saddened to learn that Dan Ehrler is leaving the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce to take a new position with the Morgan Hill Unified School District. Although I realize that this is a beneficial move for Dan and for the school district, it will be a significant loss for the City of Morgan Hill and for the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce.

Dan has done so much for the chamber, moving it forward into the 21st century and making it a progressive and proactive organization. He brought energy and stability to the organization’s board of directors and to the members of the support team that surrounds him. Dan gave the chamber direction and structure with clear goals and the means to achieve these goals. Through his leadership, we have many activities that have energized our city and the business community. We now have the Environmental Affairs Council, which organizes and presents Earth Day and the Sustainable Conference. He also brought recognition of the importance of the non–profit businesses and organizations that has fostered an atmosphere of cooperation and understanding of the importance of these businesses to the community.

I could go on, but the most important point that I am trying to make is that Dan’s leadership brought the chamber out of 80s and made it a viable, business friendly, and very important tool for new and existing business in Morgan Hill.

Finally, Dan is a really nice guy. It was a pleasure always to open an e-mail or letter from Dan, to find that he really appreciated your efforts, your input, your feedback on whatever you were working on for the chamber. It was a pleasure to hear terms like “I am so grateful” or “your valuable time is deeply appreciated” in communications with Dan. It always inspired me to go that extra distance or taking extra time to accomplish a task for the chamber. I will miss that communication with him the most.

Morgan Hill Unified is very lucky to have him, (and I bet they know it) especially in dealing with community communication and outreach. He will be a terrific asset there as he was with the Chamber of Commerce.

The best of luck, Dan! We are so deeply grateful to you for your very valuable time and deep personal commitment shown to all of us through your valuable work with the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce!  

Swanee Edwards, Morgan Hill