Palmer is a retired British Petroleum vice president of external affairs and owner of The Palmer Group, an Anchorage-based consulting firm. He has been a resident of Eagle River since 1984 and has a long history of service to the community.

Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Palmer moved to Alaska in 1981 and has since worked with Catholic Social Services, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Resource Development Council, the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Remembrance Park Foundation and the Special Olympics World Games, he said.

Palmer

Palmer said he has had a desire to work within the community since coming to Alaska.

"It was the opportunity and the people. A lot of people my age came up here for the pipeline because there were a lot of jobs," Palmer said. "Some of us fell in love with the outdoors, but I primarily fell in love with the people - primarily the frontier in which you can make a difference in."

Susan Gorski, the chamber's executive director said Palmer, "is passionate about his community and understands the challenges of business."

Palmer said he hopes to combine that enthusiasm with his experience within the business community to focus on three particular goals during his one-year term as chamber president.

"We haven't rewritten our bylaws and procedures in a long time, and the chamber is much different now than when it was formed," Palmer said. "I want us to be able to make a broader outreach to the business community.

"Secondly, I would like to see us have a greater influence with our policy makers in federal, local and state areas," he said. "We want to be seen as an influential voice not just for the business community but also for the community at large."

Palmer said he wants the chamber to focus on the community's development plan in order to gain a better idea of how the Chugiak-Eagle River area will grow and change over time - the biggest challenge of which will be maintaining the small-town feel that is such a large part of the community's identity, he said.

"There's no way to stop the clock. There are houses being built," Palmer said. "As the population grows, we could lose the small town atmosphere. So, the challenge is maintaining that small town community feeling."

Palmer said he will rely on his prior business experiences and will work with other key individuals to concentrate on these aspects of the community's development as he picks up where others have left off.

"Every person has their own contribution to make and certainly George Lochner (the current chamber president) and the board have made a very important contribution. It would be wrong to say one individual can do it all," Palmer said. "But what I can bring to it is my experience as an executive - I know how to manage things. I have government connections from my past work experiences, and I tend to think long term."

"We are excited that he will be bringing his training and experience in public affairs and business development to the table that all of us in our small town will benefit from," Gorski said. "It will be a great opportunity to move our community forward."

Palmer said the chamber is one of many organizations making a difference in the community and that his volunteering as its president is an experience he expects to benefit from.

"I'm volunteering and anyone who does volunteer gets more out of it," he said. "The town has a great future and the chamber, civic groups, community councils, churches and other groups will all be a part of it."

Reach the reporter at news@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, September 15, 2005.