Marble Falls Chamber taps Bill Rives as executive director; he will step down from Fall Creek Vineyards role
MARBLE FALLS — Bill Rives is the new Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce executive director.
Battling the recession will be one of the biggest challenges the Chamber faces this year, Rives said during a noon ceremony Jan. 3.
PHOTO 1: Marble Falls businessman Bill Rives receives a hug from Realtor Pat Burton after he is named the new executive director of the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President Mark Hodges made the announcement Jan. 3. Staff photo by Raymond V. Whelan
"We are still digging out of it," he added. "Businesses in Marble Falls are looking for recovery to what I would like to think are more normal circumstances."
Rives is already a Chamber board member, as well as the Fall Creek Vineyards director of e-commerce in Tow. Many also fondly remember his tenure as a Marble Falls Independent School District administrator.
"We are very excited to have Bill onboard," Chamber president Mark Hodges said. "He will bring a wealth of sales, administrative and marketing experience to the Chamber. I know he will hit the ground running."
Rives, who has been in Marble Falls about three decades, will resign at Fall Creek and take over as chamber director Jan. 17.
"I look forward to a great opportunity to serve the community," Rives said. "It is onward and upward. Certainly, there are going to be the normal share of challenges, but I think every challenge is an opportunity."
Working closer with the City Council and the Economic Development Corp. is another big objective for the chamber this year, Rives said.
"The Chamber, the council, the EDC working together will be a force for development – greater than what we have had before," he added. "If we don't work together, we really won't get the best for our community."
Rives succeeds Jan Hatfield, who became the chamber interim director last October, several weeks after former director Christian Fletcher moved on to be come the EDC executive director.
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For more on this story, see the Jan. 8 River Cities Sunday Tribune
