School board president is new Oak Harbor Chamber director

The Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce announced Friday that Oak Harbor School Board president and local businesswoman Christine Cribb was appointed as its new director, effective Monday. “We live in a phenomenal community,” Cribb said Friday. “I’m humbled and excited.” Her predecessor, Kathy Reed, was fired Friday, Sept. 12. The board met and voted unanimously to end Reed’s employment, effective the same day. The board has not disclosed the reason for the firing other than it wanted to go “in a different direction.”

The Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce announced Friday that Oak Harbor School Board president and local businesswoman Christine Cribb was appointed as its new director, effective Monday.

“We live in a phenomenal community,” Cribb said Friday. “I’m humbled and excited.”

Her predecessor, Kathy Reed, was fired Friday, Sept. 12. The board met and voted unanimously to end Reed’s employment, effective the same day. The board has not disclosed the reason for the firing other than it wanted to go “in a different direction.”

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“We knew time is of the essence for finding someone to lead our organization,” Chamber President Jason McFadyen said.

The chamber released an announcement Friday that Cribb had accepted the position.

“She will bring not only her business career, public service, political background, and wealth of experience volunteering in our community, but she brings a commitment, the will and the tenacity to see Oak Harbor be all it can be,” McFadyen wrote in a statement to chamber members.

“We are confident that Christine will play a key role promoting and protecting the interests of our business community.”

McFadyen said Cribb was among the interviewees in the January 2013 hiring process which led to Reed’s hiring. He said Cribb was a well-qualified candidate, “so we went to her to see if she was still interested.”

“We are happy to have her on board and excited to see how she will lead.”

Cribb is the owner of Christine Cribb Consulting offering public speaking services in the areas of public relations, customer service and motivational workshops.

In addition to serving on the Oak Harbor School Board Cribb is a member of the local Navy League and was involved with the Oak Harbor Music Festival, Relay for Life and other community events.

Cribb said she intends to continue serving on the school board.

“I just think there’s phenomenal opportunity in our community, and we’re on the cusp of something great,” Cribb said.

“A membership of 400 businesses is a strong group that can do anything. I’m going to listen to the board and the members and take the business community the way they want to go.”

Cribb said she also wants to strive to bring together the business community and the community at large.

“We have more in common than we have differences,” Cribb said.