Karen Hiney from Clara.

Clara native is new manager of Athlone Chamber

Athlone Chamber of Commerce's new manager is from Clara.

Karen Hiney took up the reins of the organisation which boasts over 150 members in the town on February 6, initially on a part-time basis, although that may expand in the future.

A native of Clara, Karen described herself as a “true Midlander” as she is married to a Tullamore man whose family originally hail from Athlone.

She has extensive experience of working for several multi-nationals in senior positions in the areas of customer experience, supply chain and project management.

“It's really about growth and development of the chamber,” Karen said of her objectives for the job. “So far I've been very impressed. What the chamber has managed to do on a voluntary basis has been phenomenal over the last couple of years. Now, they are at the stage to take that further”.

For her, a big aim is improving member services and getting more businesses on board, involved and giving feedback in terms of what they want. In addition, she is keen to collaborate with other chambers in the region.

With Athlone IT providing industry driven courses and the possibility of university status in the future, the new manager is of the opinion that Athlone is the “growth town” in the region and it certainly has a bright future.

An issue that has been exercising the chamber she took up her new role has been the new rates valuation, which has seen some local businesses facing big jumps in their bill, something which is hitting many areas of the region.

“I do think any taxation for business that takes no account of how that business is functioning from a financial perspective doesn't make sense. At the same time local authorities need to be funded but maybe there are other ways.”

“I'm not too sure but maybe if chambers come together, one chamber won't do it. We are not the only county having these issues, counties all over the country are having them,” she commented, saying that they have been feeding back into Chambers Ireland on the matter as the “collective lobbying power” is effective.