WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Whenever an issue affecting business in Whatcom County or our region comes up, you’ll find Guy Occhiogrosso at the center of the discussion. He’s the longtime president and CEO of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Occhiogrosso was born, raised and educated in Westlake, a small community in southwest Louisiana near the larger city of Lake Charles. He excelled in math and science as a young student, which he says usually defined one’s career path in his home region.

“When you’re good with math and science in southwest Louisiana it’s almost expected that you would go into engineering, particularly chemical engineering with all of the chemical plants” there.

While in high school, he was hired to work at a small sports memorabilia shop. He kept the job as he entered McNeese State University, still expecting to earn an engineering degree.

But Occhiogrosso lost interest in what he expected a future in that industry to be and instead found his career path through the retail store.

“I fell in love with the day-to-day operations and the passion of running small businesses.” – Guy Occhiogrosso

He went on to graduate from McNeese with a business degree. His three siblings with his eight nieces and nephews were living in Whatcom County at the time and that brought him to this part of the country.

After Occhiogrosso was here for a while, an acquaintance encouraged him to apply for the head position at the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce.

He held that position for over seven years before the board of directors hired him to lead the Bellingham chamber. He’s been president and CEO of the Bellingham regional chamber for over 12 years.

Occhiogrosso says his organization sees themselves as having three roles, which he calls the three C’s: champion, convener and catalyst.

“We’re a champion for our community and our business community, we convene leaders and stakeholders on important issues and we’re a catalyst for getting good things done,” Occhiogrosso said.

He says the chamber is a non-partisan organization with the only litmus test being whether a policy or issue is good or bad for businesses and the workers and communities they support.

“The motto that we all have is to create a place to live, work and play.” Occhiogrosso adds those three words apply to everyone.

“You’re not talking about just owners or just decision makers, you’re talking about owners, you’re talking about employees, you’re talking about customers, you’re talking about visitors,”” he said.

Occhiogrosso says he’s fulfilled in his position leading the chamber and he looks forward to a long career right through retirement. He and Karen Kramer, a fourth-generation Whatcom County resident, married in 2019. She is employed by the Northwest Washington Fair. They live in Lynden.

As for his lack of a southern accent despite growing up in the deep south, he credits media influence when he was young but also says he and his fellow students took speech classes to sound less regional as they entered the workforce.

Hear Occhiogrosso and other local business leaders as they host The Whatcom Report, a weekly radio show highlighting and promoting local businesses and issues Sunday mornings at 10 on KGMI Radio.

We are Whatcom is a weekly column featuring Whatcom County residents making a positive impact on the community. To submit a Whatcom County resident to be featured, click here.