Chamber president’s had his share of challenges

The head of the Greater Richmond Chamber is an introvert.

He's shy.

He prefers to listen.

The last class he took in college was speech giving, and he did not look forward to the subject.

"I like people. I'm just not super-outgoing," Kim Scheeler said. "Sometimes [people] perceive I'm upset when I'm not. I'm just kind of quiet."

Come tomorrow, Scheeler will turn 55 and celebrate his first anniversary as president and CEO of the chamber.

In that time, the Tampa, Fla., transplant settled in, learned about the local business climate, gave speeches, networked and helped orchestrate regional collaboration.

He did it all while staring in the face of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Colleagues say his even-tempered manner and listening skills have helped him navigate the turmoil.

"There's a strong, quiet confidence he's brought to the organization," said Katherine Busser, executive vice president at Capital One Financial Corp. and immediate past chairwoman of the Greater Richmond Chamber.

"The thing that has been important is his ability to kind of take in not only a new job and a new community but the real crisis of the challenges and failures we were having in this economy."

His short tenure has had its trials.

The chamber list of member-businesses is falling. The organization had 1,662 members in June, down from 1,953 at the same time a year ago.

Big benefactors, such as LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., went bankrupt or had money troubles.

The chamber found itself trying to provide more to members with less money.

Scheeler had to cut eight positions and leave open three vacant ones.

"The economy was probably the largest unexpected thing that Kim had to confront," said Gary L. Rhodes, chairman of the chamber board and president of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. "It's been a challenging year for the chamber as it has been for everybody else."

Under Scheeler's guidance, the chamber has shifted to focus more on small businesses, which represent 94 percent of its members. He has also encouraged free and low-cost events for members, such as a series of brown-bag events taught to members by other members.

He worked with fellow newcomer Robert A. Crum Jr., the executive director of the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, to help bring nine localities and several chamber organizations to agreement on the need for high-speed rail between Richmond and Washington.

"Kim works very well with both government leaders and business leaders," Crum said. "It's very clear he's an excellent consensus builder."

"He really understands how communities function," echoed Rhodes. "How to build collaboration in communities and how that dynamic works."

As a manager, Scheeler likes to throw out ideas for people to improve upon and encourages them to take ownership.

"I learned a long time ago there's 100 different ways to scale a mountain," he said. "Figure out how to get there and I'll support you. People are more tenacious and hard-working if they get to figure out how to get there."

He's also hands-off when he needs to be.

"I like helping people be a success," Scheeler said. "I don't like sitting down and telling people to do something and looking over their shoulder to make sure they do it."

. . .

Scheeler came to Richmond after seven years as president and CEO of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. From 1983 to 2001, he moved around the country with United Way, working from associate campaign director in Fort Wayne, Ind., to president of the chapter in Tampa.

He's a licensed pilot, likes to scuba dive, loves to fish and runs a lot.

Most of all, Scheeler hopes that he's made a difference, says his wife, Donna Scheeler.

"He's genuine. He has a good heart, and he certainly has the ability to put his own ego aside," she said.

One way he does that is through mentoring, in his personal and business lives.

For nine years, both Scheelers were a "Big Couple" with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay. Their "Little Sister," Jennifer, is in college in Tampa, and they keep in touch with her.

"They pretty much raised" her, said Sherrie Brach, CEO of United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg.

Brach has known Scheeler for about 15 years through United Way. Her background was more in marketing and fundraising, so when Brach took over the local United Way, she turned to Scheeler for guidance.

"He kind of has a mentoring way about him," Brach said.

. . .

Scheeler was born in Fort Wayne, Ind. His parents wanted him to become a doctor, but he dropped out of Indiana University after meeting Donna.

"I was more into talking to her than learning organic chemistry," Scheeler said. "I could have been a doctor, but I wouldn't have had as much joy or pleasure because I wouldn't have had her."

After quitting school, Scheeler went to work in the produce department of a Kroger grocery store.

Then he went back to school for a business degree and started working nights at an International Harvester Co. manufacturing plant where his dad worked. He got his degree in 1982 from Indiana University.

"It has enabled him, on many levels, to just be able to talk with whomever," Donna said. "He can be understanding on any level."

Scheeler is now focusing on a developing a new strategic plan and vision for the chamber, where it will go, what kind of focus the organization will have.

"He's got a good sense of the economy," Rhodes said. "He knows what the company dynamics are. I think we'll see great things ahead."

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .