MARKSTROM TAPPED: Bay Area Chamber Names Interim President

January 29, 2015
By: Dave Rogers

Keith Markstrom, retired director of the Bay Medical Foundation, has been named interim president and CEO of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Markstrom will temporarily fill the post vacated by longtime president and CEO Michael Seward, who has retired and is moving to Lakeland, Florida with his wife, Debra. A national search for Mr. Seward's successor is underway.

A native of Berrien County, Mr. Markstrom is a graduate of Central Michigan University and earned his masters degree from CMU in school health administration.

Markstrom is a Vietnam War Veteran, serving from 1969 to 1972, as an intelligence agent with the rank of SGT E-5.

He is a Life Member of the VFW and member of American Legion Post 18. In 2013, he chaired the Post 18 Veterans Golf Committee, which raised $8,000 at the inaugural event. He is also a member of the Bay County Soldiers and Sailors Relief Commission and the 7th Michigan Cavalry Civil War Round Table.

Mr. Seward, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, announced his retirement Jan. 13 after more than 12 years of service to the Bay Area community.

"Mike has done an amazing job as president of the Bay Area Chamber. He has worked hard to better the business environment and the quality of life in our area over the past 12 years. He will be missed, but not forgotten. I think Mike may find retirement a bit boring compared to the life he's been living," Al Blinke, chairman of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, told WNEM-TV.

Seward became president and CEO of the Chamber in October, 2002. Since then the Chamber has taken on new and expanded programs and services to better serve its members and the Bay Area community.

The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is the premier business leadership organization in the Bay Area. "Our role is to improve the economic climate, business environment and quality of living throughout the Bay Area," Seward said.

In addition to his leadership of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Seward has actively participated in a wide variety of community improvement service organizations. He has served as chairman of the Board of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, Bay Future, Inc. and the community's Karn/Weadock Development Committee. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of United Way of Bay County, Rotary Club of Bay City, Great Lakes Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Boy Scouts of America.

Seward came to the Great Lakes Bay Region from the Chicago Southland Chamber where as President and CEO from 1992 to 2002, he served 72 communities with a total population of 3.5 million.



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