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New Chamber prez Garrett F. Sheehan.
This time, the man the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce chose as its next president said yes.
That man is Garrett F. Sheehan. The Chamber announced Monday afternoon that Sheehan is the group’s new president, after a national search that considered over 200 candidates.
Sheehan, who starts the job March 1, succeeds Anthony Rescigno, who retired in December after holding the position for 17 years. Sheehan was quoted in a Chamber press release as stating that he is “honored and humbled.”
Sheehan most recently worked as a “community relations and economic development specialist” at Eversource and, before that, an economic developer at United Illuminating. He saw duty in Afghanistan as a platoon leader with the National Guard.
Before choosing Sheehan, the Chamber had offered the president’s post to Fred McKinney. McKinney, who would have become the first black chief executive in the organization’s 224-year history, turned it down after some discomfort was expressed within the Chamber about his published views on white supremacy. (Read about that here.)
The Chamber of Commerce advocates for business interests in New Haven and 15 suburbs, from Madison to Wallingford to Orange to Milford.