Carlson says he was fired for alienating staff
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By RICHARD PIERSOL / Lincoln Journal Star
J. Matt Carlson, president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, has been fired after only six months on the job. His last job lasted about two months longer.
“The reason for this action was the fact that, in the opinion of the (Chamber) board's executive committee, Carlson's management style was not consistent with the goals and objectives of the organization,” said Richard Campbell, chairman of the board of directors for the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, in a prepared statement.
In an interview, Campbell would not elaborate on the management issues, nor would he comment on the terms of Carlson’s leaving.
Campbell would not say what Carlson’s salary was nor whether Carlson would receive any severance.
Carlson issued his own statement that said board members told him he was fired for alienating other, unnamed chamber employees.
“Board members were clear that long-term senior management personnel had indicated that if I were to stay they would seek employment elsewhere,” Carlson’s statement said. He did not identify the “long-term senior management personnel.”
He did ackowledge the conflict with the board.
“My style is one of questioning the status quo, building consensus and leading initiatives that result in improvements and growth,” Carlson’s statement said. “I am disappointed that my inherent skills didn’t meet the needs of the Chamber at this point in their history.”
Carlson said he was unaware before Monday that that any differences were an issue. The board acted both legally and ethically in severing the relationship, he said.
“I don’t want anybody to read this as ’Matt’s annoyed,’ or ’Matt feels like he’s been done wrong,’” he said.
Carlson said his plans were indefinite, but he and his wife Kimberly would like to stay in Lincoln.
“That would be predicated on finding the right opportunity,” said Carlson, adding that his background in strategic planning and fundraising transfer to numerous fields.
Campbell said the executive committee soon would begin a nationwide search for Carlson’s successor.
In the meantime, Wendy Birdsall, executive vice president of the chamber and president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, will be serving again as the interim president for the Chamber and the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development.
The chamber has the contract from Lancaster County to run the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development is a joint effort of the chamber and local government, financed by private and public funds.
Birdsall was interim president of the Chamber from April of last year, when the previous president, Jim Fram, left the job and September, when Carlson took over.
Fram left Lincoln after more than two years at the chamber to return to his home state of Oklahoma for personal reasons he would not disclose.
Campbell called Birdsall’s service “superb.”
Birdsall confined her comments to praise for the rest of the staff, which has earned the Lincoln chamber accreditation and honors nationally. Birdsall promised no slack in staff work keeping the chamber in harness.
Campbell said he doesn’t believe Carlson’s leaving after so short a tenure would damage the chamber’s mission nor Lincoln’s efforts to improve its economy.
The chamber took its time when it hired Carlson, Campbell said and will do so again as it seeks new candidates for the job.
“This is a five-star chamber,” Campbell said. “Lincoln is a job, much sought after. It’s just a matter of finding the right mix for this community.”
Campbell would not talk about how the Chamber failed to find the right mix when it hired Carlson.
“Hindsight and conjecture are always so easy,” he said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to go into the details.”
Carlson spent less than a year at his previous job, as president of the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce in suburban Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.
Carlson resigned there at the end of 2004, after being hired in April, the newspaper reported in January of 2005.
It quoted the Clayton County chamber’s chairman, Jack Hancock, as saying Carlson and another staff member who left were not fired, but “wanted to work in other areas.” Hancock could not be reached for comment Monday.
City Council President Ken Svoboda called Carlson’s firing “just very disappointing news right now.”
He said he thought Carlson had energy and drive and was very intuitive about the challenges facing the city.
Svoboda also said that though he was told by a chamber board member Tuesday that Carlson’s management style had been an issue “from the beginning,” he had not heard from anyone else about any problems with Carlson.
“No one had ever mentioned to me that there was a difficulty there,” he said.
Omaha Chamber of Commerce President David Brown, whose organization has been cooperating with the Lincoln Chamber on a number of issues recently, called Carlson “outgoing, friendly and engaging.”
He said he had no issues with Carlson’s work nor the way he went about it.
Brown also said the Omaha chamber would help out “any way we can” with the transition.
Rodd Cayton and Matt Olberding contributed to this story.
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