Doing so during a global pandemic could be considered doubly challenging.
So, Dean Maratea knew he was in for a rough start as president of the Greater Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce the minute he took over. But rather than run and hide, the affable New England native decided to meet the challenge head-on.
âThe day after St. Patrickâs Day was my first day on the job, and then the next day the whole state shut down because of the coronavirus,â Maratea said during a recent sit-down interview at Stilt House Brewery. âHere I was in charge of small businesses and the whole state just shut down. So, I used my experience with Zoom and reached out to as many people as I could, and I just went from there.â