New Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Chairman Kelvin Heck wants to focus on economic development during his one-year term, and he’ll certainly have lots of chances to do so.

One of Heck’s first big chores after he moves into the chairman’s position at tonight’s annual chamber meeting will be to find a replacement for economic development director Debi Moore, who resigned in February for health reasons.

“Finding the right person for that position is critical to economic development in Lawrence, and therefore critical to the entire economic health of Lawrence,” Heck said.

Heck said the chamber board and chamber President Bill Sepic have set a tentative deadline of Aug. 1 for bringing a new director on board.

Finding a new director will be the first step in Heck’s plan to revitalize economic development efforts in Lawrence.

“Job one for the year is to re-establish economic development as our top priority,” Heck said. “That is the traditional role of a chamber, and for whatever reason we maybe haven’t been as strong in that area as we would like.”

Heck hopes to create new programs that will strengthen the ties between Kansas University’s research community and area businesses. He also hopes to start a manufacturer’s council that would have leaders of area manufacturing firms meet on a regular basis to share information that may be helpful in attracting new firms to town.

Landing more industry, and thus more jobs, is critical as community leaders try to reduce the number of Lawrence residents who commute elsewhere to work, Heck said.

Heck, who is a commercial real estate agent for Lawrence’s Grubb & Ellis/Winbury Group, is replacing Lawrence Journal-World editorial page editor Ann Gardner as chamber chairman.