NORWICH – Commerce Chenango decided to stay within its ranks Monday and hired Maureen P. Carpenter to become the business organization’s new President and CEO.

Carpenter, Commerce Chenango’s current director of economic development, was hired from a pool of nearly a dozen candidates and is expected to takeover for interim President Sewain Conklin by the end of April. Conklin has been filling-in at the top spot since December, when previous president Dave Hall was let go after spending just over one year in the position.

“Maureen has a very strong background in economic development and she’s very familiar with the staff and its operations,” Conklin said. “We felt very confident she could do the job.”

Previously using a nationwide recruiting agency, Conklin said for this hire Commerce Chenango’s search committee was looking for a permanent replacement who was familiar with the area. Carpenter is a life-long resident of Chenango County and has been director of economic development since 2004.