Among his other important priorities, the new executive director of the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce needs to take immediate steps to address the chamber's amateurish public communication effort.

The chamber on Tuesday sent an e-mail to various media in the region, but it was marked as having been sent by “Admin Assistant” and the subject line was blank, so there were no clues as to the origin of the note or what it might contain.

What it said was that the chamber had hired Andrew Fish as its new executive director. It said that his start date will be June 29, and that the chamber wished to thank the search committee for its time and dedication.

And that was about it.

Two obvious questions - who is Andrew Fish and what is his vision for the future of the chamber - were left unanswered.

So we asked people connected with the chamber to help fill in the blanks. But we didn't get much help.

It seems the board of directors had decided that there would be no further comment until Fish reported to work on June 29. Board chair Beth Hoey went a step further and specifically asked us not to call Fish. He will be better able to articulate his goals after he officially starts work, she said.

Executive director of the Chamber of Commerce is arguably the most important private-sector business and economic development position in the entire county. The hiring of a new director is an opportunity to spread the word about the hopes and dreams that the chamber and its new leader have for the county.

Tuesday's “news release” was more than the bungling of Fish's introduction to the public, it was yet another sign that the Chamber of Commerce is in dire need of focused leadership.

We hope that Fish can take this chamber to the next level. Cayuga County needs more than just another social club. It needs an active and aggressive partner in economic development.

Considering that the chamber's primary mission is promotion, it's more than a little disappointing to see the people involved in it failing so badly at it.