Sara Beth Wyatt is leaving Winter Haven Chamber after two years as its leader

Sara Beth Wyatt is resigning as president and CEO of the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce after just over two years in the role.

Wyatt, 31, is leaving her position Friday to concentrate on running for re-election to the Polk County School Board, the Chamber said in a news release. She received a second term without opposition in 2020 but now faces a challenge from Rebekah Ricks of Winter Haven for the District 4 seat.

The Winter Haven Chamber selected Wyatt in 2022 at age 29 after conducting a national search. The chamber’s board chair said she beat out a group of 70 applicants, 10 of whom were invited for interviews.

Wyatt succeeded Katie Worthington Decker, who held the position for eight years before leaving for a job as senior vice president of the Lakeland Economic Development Council. Before her, Bob Gernert led the chamber for 17 years.

Wyatt, who got married in 2021, said Tuesday that she made her decision based on the combination of increased family responsibilities and the demands of running a re-election campaign.

“Chamber life is really 60-plus hours a week,” she said. “You have lots of evening events and weekend events. So looking at doing both is a lot of time away from the family and away from home. And while it's all work that I'm really excited about and that I love doing, my husband and I took a step back and looked at our lives this year.”

She added: “My first passion is education and our schools. I've kind of gotten to fulfill all of my dreams and do everything I've wanted to do for several years now. And it's time for me to take a step back and focus a little more on family.”

The Winter Haven Chamber will now conduct a nationwide and local search for a new president and CEO, the news release said. The chamber, which has five remaining staff members, set a deadline of June 17 for applications.

“The chamber wishes Sara Beth well as she continues to make a positive impact on our community, with a focus on our county’s youth as she seeks re-election to the Polk County School Board,” Brian Reeves, chair of the chamber’s board of directors, said in an email.

"We have a very capable and experienced team at the chamber who will keep the operations at the chamber flowing and, of course, the Executive Committee and Board of Directors are on board to assist as needed," Reeves wrote. "In addition, we are fortunate to have the assistance and guidance from a Polk County resident who is a seasoned chamber executive who leads the association that provides professional development for chambers of commerce."   

During Wyatt’s time as leader, the chamber launched the Youth Leadership Winter Haven program, completed its building renovations, finished the second phase of a capital campaign, relaunched the Leadership Winter Haven Alumni Program and earned the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s five-star accreditation for the second time, the news release said.

Fewer than 2% of chambers nationwide earn that status, according to the organization’s website. The Winter Haven Chamber claims about 750 member businesses.

“I think we've had some huge successes in the past few years, many of which, I think, are probably things that happen behind the scenes that people don't know about,” Wyatt said.

She pointed to the renovation of the chamber’s office at 401 Ave. B N.W., as an important accomplishment. The modernist building, designed by the late Winter Haven architect Gene Leedy and completed in 1989, needed an interior redesign to be more functional, she said.

Wyatt said she also took pride in promoting Youth Leadership Winter Haven, a program for high school students. She said the initiative seeks to stem a “brain drain,” as many of the area’s most skilled graduates choose to leave Polk County after completing high school.

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The most recent available tax filing for the Winter Haven Chamber is for the fiscal year ending in September 2022, 6? months after Wyatt’s hiring. The chamber reported revenue of about $571,000, expenses of about $545,000 and net assets of $991,000.

“The financial status of the chamber is strong,” Wyatt said. “We have over six months in reserves for if another COVID comes, which we hope it never will. The chamber is in a strong position. The foundation is in a strong position financially and set up for success for the future.”

The Winter Haven Chamber Foundation is a separate nonprofit devoted to economic development, leadership development, educational support and community beautification.

The board has formed a volunteer search committee and does not have a firm deadline for finding a replacement, Reeves said.

Vice Chair Nick Plott, who will become board chair in October, praised Wyatt.

“Sarah Beth is just a phenomenal hard worker and just truly loves this county,” Plott said. “I’m sad to see her go but completely support her in her efforts to win re-election to the School Board and just really want to thank her for always wanting to do what's best for Polk County, putting kids’ interests first.”

Wyatt, a Winter Haven native and graduate of Winter Haven High School, received a bachelor of science in telecommunication from the University of Florida and master’s degrees in nonprofit management and public administration from the University of Central Florida.

Prior to her hiring to lead the Chamber, Wyatt served as development director for Theatre Winter Haven.

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“Winter Haven is my love,” Wyatt said. “I will live and die in this community, and truly everything that I have decided to do in my life has been to best support this community. So it's always sad to leave a piece of that behind, but I try not to focus on the things I'm losing but the time with family and a little bit better work-life balance that I'll be gaining.”

Wyatt, then Sara Beth Reynolds, gained election to the School Board in 2016 at age 24, making her possibly the youngest member ever elected. She served as School Board chair in 2023.

She filed to seek re-election April, three months after Ricks submitted her paperwork. The qualifying deadline for school board races is June 14.

Ricks is a homeschool advocate and has served as state president with Moms for America, a conservative group that labels members of LGBTQ groups as sexual “groomers” of children and claims that public schools are indoctrinating students with gender ideology.

Ricks also founded Moms for Medical Freedom. During the COVID pandemic, that group opposed mask mandates in schools and advised against getting COVID vaccinations.

School board elections are nonpartisan.

Ricks reported $5,100 in campaign contributions through March 31. Donors include Polk County Commissioner Bill Braswell; Jim Guth and Jill Sessions, officers with the Polk County Republican Party; Steve Maxwell, co-founder of Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative organization; and the Winter Haven 9-12 Project.

Wyatt has not yet reported any campaign contributions. She said she will hold an official campaign kickoff event June 13.

Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Wyatt leaving Winter Haven Chamber, citing family, re-election bid