Beals Leaving NLC to Head
Savannah Chamber of Commerce

By RANDY ARNDT

Cites Opportunity to Use
Experience in Private Sector

NLC Executive Director Alan Beals will leave the National League of Cities early in 1990 to become the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.

Beals has served in NLC for 22 years and as executive director since 1975.

During his leadership, NLC has grown in membership from fewer than 600 to more than 1400 cities and towns. In 1981, NLC moved into a new headquarters at 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW — the first major building constructed in what has become a massive redevelopment of the nation's capital's old downtown district.

"I believe NLC has never been stronger or had a greater presence and credibility as the leading voice of our nation's cities and towns," Beals said. "We have also prepared a strategic plan that will carry this organization forward and build its strength and capacity. I have great pride in what we have accomplished and great confidence in what lies ahead for NLC."

Beals, 56, said he felt this was a time when he could consider a new opportunity to apply his experience as a public sector leader in a private sector position.

"Public-private partnerships have become a dynamic ingredient for economic development in the 1980s, and I am excited by the prospect of working to apply some of the strategies and tools in a place that I have become very fond of," Beals said. His wife Sandi is a native of Savannah, with many ties to the community, and they had purchased a second home there some time ago as part of a long-range retirement plan.

NLC President Bob Bolen, mayor of Fort Worth, Tex., called Beals "one of the premier directors in the country of any organization. There is no doubt that Alan's departure will be a tremendous loss to the League.

"He will be tough to replace, but he has decided to go on to a new career, and I am sure he will be successful in it," Bolen added. "We will sure hate to lose him, but we all wish him well."

The process for selecting a new NLC executive director has not yet been announced. The appointment will be made by the Board of Directors following a search process. Beals expects to remain at NLC for 90 days while the transition proceeds.

In his new position in Savannah, Beals will also be president of the Savannah Convention and Visitors' Bureau, which is operated by the Chamber of Commerce.

David Young, the president of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce for the past 14 years, had submitted his resignation in September to become vice chairman of the board of Aminco, a Savannah-based holding company. "Alan's experience with communities around the country and how they address problems will be a wonderful resource," Young said. •

Reprinted from Nation's Cities Weekly, December 18, 1989.

January 1990 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 19