San Angelo Chamber Board Makes Surprise Decision to Fire Its President and CEO

SAN ANGELO, TX — The San Angelo Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors announced Thursday that Steve Ahlenius’ tenure as president and CEO has ended, effective Aug. 27, 2026.

Ahlenius had held the job since November 2024, succeeding Walt Koenig. The board did not publicly state a reason for the change. Sources familiar with the decision told San Angelo LIVE! that the departure did not involve illegalities or financial mismanagement.

The announcement caught many local business leaders off guard. Only two months earlier, the Chamber had publicly credited Ahlenius with a membership rebound and a more aggressive stance on local issues. In a late-July interview, Ahlenius said he believed the organization was on track to become one of the top five chambers in Texas.

Board Chair Stan Meador, of Texas Pacifico, is out of the country. Chair-Elect Dean Munn issued the statement.

“On behalf of the Board, we thank Steve Ahlenius for his service to the Chamber and wish him well in future endeavors,” Munn said. “The Board has determined this is the right time for new leadership as we look ahead to the Chamber’s next chapter.”

The board named Jeremy Bartz, vice president of destination marketing, as acting president and CEO. Bartz will run day-to-day operations and member programs while the board searches for a permanent successor.

“Our focus remains on serving San Angelo’s business community without interruption,” Munn said. “Members can expect the same level of advocacy, programming, and support they rely on from the Chamber.”

The Thunderdome problem

Ahlenius is the fourth paid president and CEO since Phil Neighbors died in February 2016 after a decade in the job. Neighbors’ death opened a stretch of short tenures that local business people still talk about as a revolving door:

• Dan Koenig, August 2016–September 2017  
• Bruce R. Partain, April 2018–about 2019/2020  
• Walt Koenig, about April 2020–May 2024
• Steve Ahlenius, November 2024–August 2026  

Earlier long-serving presidents included Michael Dalby (1998–2006) and Neighbors (2006–2016). Interims filled the gaps after Neighbors, including Peggy Arnold in 2016 and retired banker Mike Boyd in 2017.

San Angelo LIVE! has described the job as the Chamber’s Thunderdome: the board recruits Type-A hunter-gatherer executives, then appears to want a farmer. The result is disruption at the top instead of a durable partnership between staff and directors. After 10 years of that cycle, the board still has not built an environment in which a president and CEO can survive.

Part of that mismatch sits on the board itself. Only two current directors are entrepreneurs who own and operate businesses: Yolanda Franco of Western Sky Steakhouse and Seth Chomout of San Angelo Studios. Most of the rest hold salaried jobs, many at large nonprofit institutions. That makeup makes the board more risk-averse than the broader San Angelo business community it claims to represent.

Current executive leadership includes:

• Stan Meador, chair, Texas Pacifico  
• Dr. Flor Leos, immediate past chair, Angelo State University
• Dean Munn, secretary, La Esperanza Clinic
• Brianne Killam, treasurer, San Angelo Area Foundation  

Other listed directors include Nolan Sosa of Shannon Medical Center and Tiffany Parker of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Concho Valley.

That instability has consequences beyond one man’s contract. Former Mayor Brenda Gunter spent years pressing to pull city economic development work — including the Destination Marketing Organization funded in part with hotel occupancy tax — out of the Chamber and under City Hall. Walt Koenig’s exit in 2024 was already tangled in public fights with Gunter over the DMO’s direction and economic-development priorities. Another sudden vacancy reopens that door.

If the city absorbs those functions, the Chamber loses money, staff capacity, and the convening power that makes it more than a networking club. For the San Angelo business community, that would be a real loss of influence.

Ahlenius arrived from the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, where he had resigned in August 2024 citing health reasons after two years. He previously spent about 24 years leading the McAllen Chamber and later chaired the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives.

What Ahlenius did here

Ahlenius took over a Chamber that had lost members and public influence. He pushed the organization into fights other chambers often avoid and launched programs meant to put the Chamber back in the middle of local decision-making.

He backed San Angelo ISD’s $397 million Bond 2025 package. Voters approved Proposition A in May 2025. He also argued publicly that data-center development could lift city-county property tax valuations, hotel-occupancy tax collections, and tourism — a position that drew sharp criticism from some residents and former members during the city’s ongoing data-center and recall fights.

Under Ahlenius, the Chamber started an Inventors and Entrepreneurs group and breakfast programs that spotlighted regional issues and opportunities. The 2026 West Texas Legislative Summit, organized by the Ahlenius-led Chamber, sold out without a high-profile headliner. Attendees packed sessions with high-impact content, and the event was widely described as one of the strongest in the summit’s 24-year history.

On the membership side, the numbers improved. In May and June 2026, the Chamber ran an internal “Chamber Cup” drive led with consultant Jimmy Cassano. About 140 volunteers produced 276 new members or upgrades and $162,000 in new annual recurring revenue. Meador’s team finished among the top recruiters in that campaign.

Ahlenius framed the work as shared ownership. “It wasn’t about ‘I,’ it was instead about ‘we,’” he said in June.

That record did not keep him in the job.

The Chamber, founded in 1916, is a 501(c)(6) that handles business advocacy, economic development, and destination marketing for San Angelo and the Concho Valley. The board said it will release updates on the search for a permanent president and CEO as the process moves forward.

The Chamber has not released additional details on the circumstances of Ahlenius’ departure. San Angelo LIVE! will update this story if the board or Ahlenius comments further.