Lawrence Chamber of Commerce officials expect to have a new president within four to six months, Chairman Kelvin Heck said Wednesday.

The chamber board officially accepted chamber president Bill Sepic’s resignation Wednesday, after Sepic confirmed he had accepted an offer to become president of the Lansing, Mich., Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Heck said he and Shirley Martin-Smith, a former Lawrence mayor and owner of a local employment agency, will lead a 10- to 12-member committee that will conduct a national search for Sepic’s replacement.

The chamber board also agreed to hire Jean Milstead, a retired senior vice president from Douglas County Bank, to serve as the organization’s interim president while the search is being conducted.

Heck said the chamber would poll a large “cross-section” of the community to determine what type of leader the chamber should try to attract to the position. But Heck said he was confident the board ultimately would place an emphasis on someone with economic development experience.

“I’d put that first on my list of things,” Heck said. “The chamber’s primary job is to bring jobs to town.”

Heck said the board had decided to hire Milstead, in part, because it wanted someone to continue with Sepic’s efforts to lead a private fund-raising campaign designed to raise approximately $1.5 million to support economic development.

“Jean has the type of professional reputation in the community to keep people enthused about the campaign,” Heck said.

Milstead retired from Douglas County Bank in 2000 after having worked there since 1966. She also served on the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission, and was chairwoman of the planning group that drafted Horizon 2020, Lawrence and Douglas County’s comprehensive plan.

Milstead, who has been a member of the chamber since the mid-1970s, also served a one-year term as the chamber’s chairwoman in 1989. She said that experience had helped convince her to accept the interim job.

“I’ve always been really positive about Lawrence, and I think that’s what this job needs,” Milstead said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m a walking ambassador for Lawrence.”

Sepic said Wednesday that the new position would allow him to fulfill a goal of serving as a chamber president in a state capital community.

“You always map out career aspirations in your life, and this was an opportunity to fulfill one of them,” Sepic said.

“I just had some aspirations beyond where I am today.”

Sepic begins his new job Dec. 1.

Milstead, who said she would not apply for the permanent job, said a date hadn’t been set on when she would begin the interim position. She said she expected to begin in mid-November.