NEW YORK: Nancy Ploeger, who has led the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce for decades, announced Friday that she will leave her post at the end of February.
Ploeger, 65, is departing to take the reins of a global foundation aimed at supporting women in business that she and the chamber helped to found.
“I like building things,” Ploeger said in an interview. “That’s my M.O. I like to go in where it’s small.”
Under Ploeger, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce grew from a few hundred businesses to a $1 million organization with more than 10,000 members. Before joining the chamber 21 years ago, she helped create the New York Sports Club empire.
The chamber will now start a search for a new president. Ploeger said her successor faces the challenge of promoting small business in the city “to keep the variety and continue to have neighborhoods with fabrics, not just chains one after the other.”
According to a job description Ploeger emailed to her staff, applications for the post are due Dec. 31. She encouraged “everyone and their mother who has an interest in small business” to apply.
