A private fund-raising campaign has generated more than $1.2 million to support economic development activities in Douglas County, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce officials announced at their annual meeting Friday evening.

The chamber’s Excellence by Design campaign has received pledges totaling $1,212,081 from 108 area businesses and organizations, campaign co-chairmen Robert Hemenway and Marilyn Dobski told a crowd of about 600 people who attended the chamber’s yearly meeting at the Lawrence Holidome.

When chamber officials began the campaign in January, they set a goal of raising $1.2 million.

“To actually do what we said we wanted to do is very exciting,” Dobski said. “I’ve been involved in a lot of fund-raising campaigns and it doesn’t always work out this way. I think what this shows is that in the chamber membership there is a strong belief that we need to bring in many different types of jobs.”

The pledges, which are spread over a three-year period, will be used to fund a variety of activities, including increased marketing activities and new work force training programs.

The annual meeting marked the 125th anniversary of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. It also marked a change in leadership on the chamber’s board of directors. Larry McElwain, a funeral director of a Lawrence mortuary, began a one-year term as the chamber’s chairman of the board, replacing Kelvin Heck, a Lawrence commercial real estate agent.

Chamber officials, however, told their members that they continued to search for a new president and chief executive to lead the chamber staff after Bill Sepic resigned late last year to take a similar position in Lansing, Mich.

Last month, chamber leaders confirmed the field had been narrowed to two candidates, both Midwestern men with previous chamber experience. Heck, who leads the search committee, said Friday that both candidates would be in Lawrence for interviews with community leaders next week.

He said an offer could be made to one of the candidates, the names of which have not been released, shortly after those closed-door interviews.

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“It really all will depend on how those days go,” Heck said.

The search for a new CEO was a popular topic among chamber members Friday. Several members said the chamber must find a leader who could build bridges with many of Lawrence’s diverse special interest groups.

“I think it will have to be someone who is a great listener and a very adept coalition builder,” Pat Flavin, president of Lawrence Realty Associates, said. “I think the most recent city elections bore out the fact that there needs to be continued discussions on what keeps Lawrence economically viable.”

The April 1 City Commission elections, which produced a sweep for the three candidates who supported a living-wage requirement for companies receiving tax abatements, was on the mind of many chamber members as well.

“I think everybody is hoping that we become a better community because of our new diversity instead of paralyzed by it,” said Bennett Griffin, owner of Griffin Technologies and president of the Lawrence Technology Assn.

David Schauner, one of the recently elected city commissioners, said he was optimistic the new commission would work well with business interests.

“I think the rank-and-file chamber members have the same views I do,” Schauner said. “They want long-term stable growth. They don’t want giveaways.”