Changing of the Guard: Partridge steps into role as Graham Chamber of Commerce, CVB CEO

After joining the Graham Crisis Center in February 2020, and serving as the organization’s executive director since September 2020, Cathy Partridge moved to a new position Tuesday as CEO of the Graham Chamber of Commerce and Graham Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Partridge follows former CEO Krisa De La Cruz, who submitted her resignation in January after serving six years in the position. Partridge said she will still have a presence at the Graham Crisis Center until they can hire someone to oversee her position.

“I feel like we’ve gotten this place in a maintain mode (at the Graham Crisis Center). I have just discovered about myself at this age, I am really not a good maintainer. I’m a good project person. I’m good (at planning) the next thing and the next thing,” she said. “So, I had been toying with the idea of what I wanted to do next. Did I want to re-retire, go home, find something part time, you know, something else? I had kind of given myself until Memorial Day to figure it out, Brad (Partridge) and I together in our conversations.”

Partridge said another part-time opportunity in town came up and she was struggling to find out what to do regarding leaving her position. She messaged De La Cruz, who she said connected her originally with Joni Edwards who hired her at the Graham Crisis Center, to ask her how she was able to step down from such a public position.

“I wanted to talk to Krisa about ‘Okay, how’s this going to be perceived in the community. What do you think about this new opportunity? How did you make that decision to leave the chamber and go do what you’re doing? How did you make that decision process in such a public position?’ Okay, (that) was really what I was talking to her about,” she said. “So when I asked her, I said, ‘How did you make that decision in such a public spot to make a transition?’ And she said, ‘I’m so glad you brought that up. Because nobody wants to poach you. But if you’re thinking about applying for my job (...),’ and I literally just pushed back and I’m like, ‘ (...) that was not at all what I wanted to talk about. Not at all.’ So that’s how it came about. (...) I didn’t think about it (...) and she said, ‘Several people have mentioned you’d be good at this, think about applying.’ So that’s how that came about. And I went home and I talked to Brad and was like, ‘What do you think?’ We kind of talked through that and thought, ‘Okay, well, you know, if people think I can do it, I’m gonna apply. I’m gonna go ahead and do it.’”

For the rest of the story, see the Feb. 16 edition of The Graham Leader.