Saugus commerce chamber director resigns

SAUGUS – The Saugus Chamber of Commerce is once again without an executive director after Nichole DiModica resigned last week.DiModica, who took over in January, was the second executive director for the chamber in the past year. Former director Sean Grant and the chamber parted ways last September.DiModica declined to a give a specific reason for her resignation, but in an interview Monday she said she enjoyed “working with all of the members” and “solidifying our existing membership.”?My goal for the first part of the year was to make sure that our foundation was secure,” said DiModica. “I feel that I did that. I enjoyed the business relationships that I made over the course of my seven months with the chamber. It was unfortunate. I absolutely loved my job and I could have seen myself in that role for many years to come for sure. I really enjoyed my interaction with the members.”Town Meeting member Peter Rossetti sits on the chamber?s board of directors and said DiModica?s resignation was “accepted with regrets.”?I?m kind of limited on what I can say,” said Rossetti, who cited “family commitments” as the reason given.Rossetti said the board will advertise for a new director, but noted it?s a difficult process for a small chamber.?Unfortunately the funding on these things is a little difficult when you don?t have a big membership base,” said Rossetti. “That?s a bit of an issue. It has been difficult with chambers. I think part of the reason is businesses have been having some hard times. And when they have difficulty it creates a problem with funding because we operate on their funding.”Rossetti said businesses pay membership fees based on how many employees it has, with bigger companies paying between $500 and $1,000 annually.?When you put that into perspective, it?s really not a big number …” said Rossetti.Despite going through two directors in less than a year, Rossetti said he was confident the chamber will be able to find a new one.