A New CEO for the Chamber: An Interview with Jorge Arrizurieta

Having worked for decades in private corporations and global organizations, Jorge Arrizurieta brings a balanced mix of experience to his new role as president and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. Among many other positions, he worked for 14 years for business   mogul Wayne Huzienger (Blockbuster Video), was part of the campaigns for both the Bush presidencies, and served for four years as president and CEO of the Florida Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Even with such experience, Arrizurieta is aware of the challenge replacing one of the city’s most beloved leaders, the late Mark Trowbridge. We caught up with the new head of the Chamber a week into the job.

Why did you want to be head of the Gables’ Chamber?

I was meeting with the mayor (Vince Lago) a few weeks after Mark’s passing, and he said, ‘You know, I think you ought to be our next chamber president.’ And I reflected on it for probably three days, talked to my wife, and told the mayor, ‘I really hadn’t thought about it until you mentioned it [but] I think I want to do this.’ My different [past] jobs all have some degree of relevance to what the day-to-day Chamber is about, whether you take the public sector side or the private sector side, or the leadership side. 

What experiences do you have that can apply to the Chamber?

This whole process has brought back to my mind how, back in the day, the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce had members like Carlos Migoya, Alva Chapman, Armando Codina, Carlos Arboleya, etc. They wanted the CEOs at the table, the decision makers, the CEOs or maybe the presidents, depending on the industry and the company. This was the leadership of the community, especially in the case of Miami-Dade County…. In a perfect world, I would love to have more CEOs participate on our board. Nothing against the other C level folks, nothing against anybody. It’s just common sense… whether I create a special counsel within the board, I want to try to incentivize, motivate, and challenge CEOs to really get back to the table.

What is your biggest challenge ahead?

Succeeding Mark Trowbridge is a challenge, and I take it to be one, because I take what I do  seriously. I’d be foolish to not be aware of who I’m succeeding. But more than a challenge to me, it’s really an incredible source of motivation, just to ensure I do a darn good job not to disappoint him, not to mention the rest of the community [and] my family…. I consider this to be the most important, relevant, significant, and valuable chamber of commerce [in the state, and] I’m going to work my tail off to ensure we’re number one in South Florida, number one in Florida, and among the top chambers in the country.

What other perspectives do you bring to the table?

International is a part of me…. from being the U.S. Representative at the Inter-American Development Bank, to coming back home to be the CEO for Gov. Bush of the public-private partnership Florida FTAA… the fact that FIFA decided to headquarter their office in Coral Gables speaks volumes. Why Coral Gables? There are 120 multinationals with headquarters here, right? So, has that happened organically? I think it’s been a combination of factors, [and] I want to take the work that went into that to the next level, and continue to layer our community with that kind of presence… We also have 20 of the (international) council generals who reside in South Florida. Well, we should have 50, not 20, and I think it’s very doable if we go out there and work hard.

What are your first goals as Chamber CEO?

First and foremost, I’m going to have an exhaustive and extensive listening tour. That’s what I’m in the middle of, and I’m going to be at if for a while, because I honestly believe there’s no way I can formulate my game plan without taking the time to listen to, first and foremost, our team here, to every chair of the committees, to the entire board. I’m meeting with every single one of those board members in the next few weeks, not to mention our stakeholders in the community, because it would be irresponsible for me to come up with a game plan when I haven’t taken the time to listen.