Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chairman Alastair Porter says the chamber's public call for the Queenstown Lakes District Council's chief executive to be replaced has not had a big effect on the chamber, although he concedes one member may have left over the issue.
The chamber held its annual meeting last week and Mr Porter said there was no discussion at the meeting about the November statement, in which the chamber said it was "time for a change" in the top job on the district council.
The position of chief executive has been held by Duncan Field for 12 years.
"No-one brought this matter up. If they did, the board would be happy to discuss it, as we encourage open debate," Mr Porter said.
He said members were generally behind the chamber's statement, and he knew of only one member, whom he declined to name, who may have left the chamber due to the issue.
"I am not too worried about our membership. We had an increase in membership of almost 25% during the past year, and will be making another big drive for members in 2010.
I think our training programme will have attracted many of the new members.
"We will also continue to take a proactive part in the public debate on issues of relevance to our members," Mr Porter said.
In the meantime, the council is still at the final stages of its recruitment process for the CEO position.
Mr Field's contract expires in February and the position was advertised in October.
Mr Field has not said whether he has sought reappointment.
An appointment is expected to be made before Christmas.
Mr Porter said the chamber had "a great and successful year" financially.
For the year ending June 30, 2009 it recorded a sound profit after a loss the year before.
The net profit after tax was $8947, which took the chamber's total equity up to $35,984.
The previous year the organisation showed a loss of $6941.
Mr Porter mainly put the result down to increased income from functions and training.
"We held a vast number of functions over this past year, which generally each made a slight profit. Totalled up, this improved our income greatly."
The chamber made savings by moving its office to cheaper premises, saving more than $6500 in rent annually.
The chairman said he was very pleased with the financial result, as the chamber did not receive any grants from local or central government.
He was even more positive about next year.
"Five months into our current financial year, we are already way ahead of our budget, and have managed to keep our costs low. So I expect an even better result for 2009-10."
The 50 members present at the annual meeting held at Milbrook Resort, approved the chairman's statement and finance report without dissent.
New to the board of Queenstown Chamber of Commerce after the annual meeting is Jim Moore, manager of Novotel Queenstown Lakeside Hotel.
He joins Mr Porter, Julie Hughes, Jan Hunt, Anthony King, Richard Thomas, Kim Wilkinson, Miles Wilson and Phil Wilson.
