Chamber Mystery Deepens

SEBRING - Nearly every week, the board of directors at the Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce finds a new problem.

So far, they've determined that $29,000 in grant money has been received from the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency, but it wasn't paid to contractor Mark Stewart for remodeling the downtown chamber welcome center.

About $90,000 in a scholarship fund was moved to the operating fund and spent without the board's knowledge. Auto dealer Alan Jay Wildstein, who helped build that fund, and others have promised to replace enough money so every student who has received a scholarship will be paid.

More money remains missing, unaccounted for, or overspent. Directors don't know which term to use, how much is gone, or if any money is gone at all. The directors met with their accountant this week, and even the accountant doesn't have an accurate figure.

What they do know is this: vendors and Heartland Idol contestants weren't paid. Payroll checks have bounced twice in the past. Even worse, the organization is having trouble making payroll. At one point, the chamber had just $10,000 in the bank, which is what's needed to make payroll.

"We're broke," said one director.
Another director put it differently, "We have a serious cash flow problem."

Highlands Today has spoken with four members of the chamber board of directors for this story. Two spoke anonymously to confirm details about the inappropriate use of chamber money.

Criminal Investigation
Dan Andrews, 33, was hired three years ago as president of the Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce. He was terminated on April 22 with a week's pay as his only compensation.

"The neglect in managing the chamber's accounts was deemed inexcusable by the board and warranted the board's action," said Susan Jones, chairwoman of the chamber's board of directors, in a press release issued in April.

"The board's lack of confidence in him to carry out his responsibilities was what ultimately led to his termination," Jones added. "We felt the chamber needed to move in a new direction."

A week later, the directors asked the state attorney's office to conduct an independent audit, according to the April 29 press release. Tenth district State Attorney's office spokesman Chip Thullbery confirmed last week that Jeanette Dugas, a CPA and a white collar crime investigator for 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jerry Hill in Bartow, is conducting a criminal investigation. Board members have been told the investigation could take up to a year.

Andrews is a Sebring native and was elected in March to the city council. Despite repeated requests, Andrews has not returned phone calls seeking comment.

Don Elwell did defend Andrews, but Elwell is in an unusual position: he remains friends with Andrews, but he's also a chamber director, his old boss is Mark Stewart, and he now works for Alan Jay, who helped build the scholarship fund to $90,000.

"Dan wishes he could clear things up, and he's told me he'd love to be able to do that," Elwell said. But he's been told by his attorney to remain quiet until the state's attorney has completed his investigation.

Financial Audit
The chamber also wants to hire an outside auditor. Requests for proposals have gone out. The audit will go back to 2005, the year Andrews was hired.

"Hopefully, we can get two or three people in the community to pay for it," said one of the directors.
An outside audit is critical to re-establishing the chamber's credibility. Rumors are rampant in the community, and members don't know what information to trust. They don't know if chamber money was spent inappropriately or foolishly.

"We're going to have to have a full audit," the director said. "NCT Group won't be doing it. We need someone to look at it with fresh eyes."

The NCT Group is a Sebring CPA firm which was hired to keep the chamber's books three years ago. Mike Carter, the managing partner, has served on the chamber board. Carter was contacted Thursday for his comment, but did not respond by press time Thursday.

All three directors are worried about whether the chamber will survive.
"I can't say to you if there will be a chamber of commerce two months from now," said one director two weeks ago. "We may just close the doors. It's bad, bad, bad. We keep finding out it's worse than we thought it was."

On Thursday, he was more optimistic. "We will get ourselves out of this mess. We are going to ask our members for management help and advice. We're going to get people involved at an unprecedented level. Perhaps we should have all along."

And members are helping. Some are paying dues. At least one golf course has offered free use for a tournament to raise money.

"We were worrying if we were going to make payroll," said the director. "We've now identified enough resources to make payroll. We had to let people go."

Other directors, including Susan Jones, agree the chamber is in dire straights, but they believe they'll convince enough community members to contribute money to keep the doors open.

Jones said Andrews wasn't diligent in getting chamber members to pay their annual dues. Interim CEO Sarah Pallone and board members have been more successful.

First Warning
Jones said the first sign the chamber was in trouble came in January, after she took over.
What she didn't know was that NCT had been trying to warn the board for months.

At least one letter, Jones said, was sent to the board in October or November. Other directors believe there was more than one letter.

"They were getting really frustrated," the director said. NCT and the board needed information, and they weren't getting it from Andrews.

"We kept getting excuses instead of information. He had a premature child born. His wife was sick. Those were all legitimate excuses. So we didn't think anything about it," the director said.

The director believes Andrews intercepted at least one NCT letter and trashed it, instead of bringing it to the board.

Andrews was supplying financial information to the board, including balance sheets, which the board thought the NCT Group was preparing.

But early this year, they realized the financial information from Andrews was not matching up with bank statements. For instance, the $90,000 scholarship fund, which Alan Jay and others had been trying to build for years to $100,000 so it would be self-sustaining, was empty.

Golf Clubs
One director confirmed that a set of golf clubs was purchased by Andrews in November on a chamber credit card to be given to the winner of 2008 chamber golf tournament.

"They never gave away those golf clubs," the director said.

Andrews was asked by chamber directors about the clubs, and he could never adequately explain what happened.

"There's another side to that story," another chamber director explained. Andrews has said he bought two sets of clubs.

But, the first director pointed out, no one can explain what happened to the set that was supposed to be given away.

Unpaid Contractors
There are at least a dozen unpaid vendors and contractors, three directors believe, who are owed at least $100,000.

Jones said some are owed a few hundred dollars. Stewart, who is owed $43,000, is the largest of the unpaid accounts

"And he's been great about this," Jones said.

Partial payments have been made to some. Others have been offered settlements, up to 50 cents on the dollar. Still others were asked if they would accept free ads in the chamber newsletter.

Those unpaid accounts include Heartland Idol contestants, but Jones has ordered checks. "They can come in and pick them up," she said.

The chamber will no longer be involved in the event, but there has been no word on whether it will be canceled.

At least twice in the past, payroll checks have bounced. In at least one instance, the money was there to pay the staff, but it wasn't in the right account.

"Everyone got paid," Jones said.
Now, the first director confirmed, "We will not write a check to anyone until we're sure we have enough money to cover it."

On another occasion, the electricity at the chamber was turned off.

"For several hours," a director verified. "But I don't know if the executive board ever knew, until recently."

How Did This Happen?
Andrews, said the directors, never came to the board to inform them that money was running out, that financial adjustments must be made. Instead, he left the impression that everything was fine.

"No, we weren't sleeping," said Jones.
"It's important to say that, perhaps naively, the chamber board relied on its executive director," said one director.

Vital Function
Sarah Pallone, membership and administrative manager for the chamber, has taken over as interim president. One reason why Andrews hasn't been replaced: there is no money to conduct a search or to pay another CEO. But, said one director, "We have faith in the interim CEO."

Jones agrees. "The board hasn't discussed replacing Sarah. For me, the replacement would be Sarah. She's been great."

After the layoffs, only one full-time and two part-time workers remain at the chamber, plus volunteers and directors who Jones said are working diligently to make sure the chamber stays open.

This week, directors put together a plan, to be announced in a chamber newsletter, asking for contributions.

But, said Jones, and the other directors, it's imperative that the chamber survive this scandal and continue to raise money for scholarships.

It's the chamber that operates the welcome centers on U.S. 27 and downtown Sebring. On a daily basis, the chamber organizes community events like the triathlon and Heartland Idol, and responds to requests for information about hotels, restaurants, airports, day care, demographics, the arts, the raceway and quality of life.

"We need members and the community to support the chamber," Jones said. "I believe that keeping the chamber a vital part of the community is a must. And there are several of us working very hard to make sure its doors remain open."