Chamber names new CEO

BRADENTON — Jacki Dezelski has been named president and CEO of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.

Dezelski had been interim CEO since February, when then President and CEO Bob Bartz died.

Dezelski joined the chamber in 1996, when she answered a newspaper help wanted ad for a communications coordinator at the organization. A then recent University of Florida graduate with a bachelor's in graphic design, Dezelski recalls, “I really had no idea what a chamber did,” she said in 2014 Business Observer interview.

Dezelski was promoted several times at the chamber, to vice president and then executive vice president. She has led chamber programs and policy development related to strategic planning, education, workforce development, health care and more, according to a statement. She oversaw the launch of the Manatee Young Professionals program and managed studies on health care and the economic impact of the arts.

Dezelski was named the 2015 Florida Chamber Professional of the Year.