Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce selects new CEO

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce has named a new president and CEO to head up its mission.

The chamber announced this week that a search committee has chosen Kim Casko, an organizational effectiveness program manager at ACT Inc., as its new leader out of a pool of more than 100 applicants.

Casko is set to start her new role Sept. 1.

'What we liked about Kim was that her leadership style is very goal-oriented and she emphasized success of the team. And we found she was forward thinking and skilled at consensus building,” said Scott Fisher, a board of directors member and co-chairman of the search committee.

The search began when the previous president and CEO, Nancy Quellhorst, retired in May. Quellhorst served in the role for about 10 years.

Casko said she wanted the new position to be officially a part of the chamber, to serve the community and to further the chamber's mission by developing businesses.

'This role would allow me to give back and be a part of all the great things happening here,” Casko said.

While Casko is from New York, she has spent more than four years in Iowa City with testing giant ACT. Fisher said knowledge of the area was a major advantage Casko had over the other applicants while the committee was conducting its national search.

'Familiarity with the region was viewed as a benefit,” Fisher said.

Casko is no stranger to the chamber as she was chosen for its Community Leadership Program in 2012, according to a news release. She continued work with the chamber's CLP as a program committee member or chairwoman for the past four years.

Casko also worked for the Iowa City Area Development Group and the University of Illinois, according to the release. She studied management and psychology at Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pa., before getting her master's in higher education and administration and policy at Northwestern University.

Casko said that while she has had a number of different types of positions throughout her career, that is something she said she values.

The past 10 years, however, she has devoted to organizational development, or how to make businesses a place where employees and leaders can be successful. She said this can be done through a number of ways like with employee engagement or leadership development.

'A part that doesn't show up on a resume is she is a very engaging person and she'll be an excellent face,” Fisher said.

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