Longtime chamber leader passes baton
After 23 years as Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, Ed Fawcett is calling it quits.
But although Fawcett stepped down Dec. 31, by the next day he had started as a consultant for the chamber’s transition to new leadership.
Fawcett said he will continue consulting with the new president and CEO, Kyle Woosley, for as long as needed. After that, he plans to relocate from his home in Tustin to the Prescott, Ariz., area and pursue an entirely different passion: pre-Columbian American history.
In an interview Tuesday, Fawcett, 66, recalled his time in Costa Mesa. Even before joining the chamber in 1992, he had a long history in town. He worked in the hotel industry in the city beginning in 1975, including serving as a manager for the Holiday Inn — now the Crowne Plaza hotel — on Bristol Street.
“For the last 40 years, Costa Mesa has had my heart,” he said. “It really has. I’ve chosen to be here because I enjoy the town. I enjoy the mix of people and the flavor of the town, more than any other town, really.”
When Fawcett, a Santa Ana native, started at the chamber, the organization was in debt. Within six months, he was able to turn it around and has kept it solvent ever since.
“We put it in a position where we could survive a couple of [economic] downturns and a full-blown recession,” he said.
Fawcett faced other challenges. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Costa Mesa was experiencing significant commercial and residential development, said retired City Manager Allan Roeder, and because of the pace and intensity of that growth, community relations were strained.
Fawcett’s building of relationships within the community helped smooth things over, Roeder said. “Ed was really good at coming in and being a voice of reason in those discussions.”
Fawcett said he tried to foster an environment where “it was OK to disagree as long as long as you respected each other. It’s been a really rewarding experience to see that type of cooperation.”
Costa Mesa has an eclectic business community — from retail and manufacturing to the service industry and the arts — and the chamber’s goal has always been to help all businesses navigate their environments, including City Hall and even state and federal government, Fawcett said.
Fawcett was legendary for his wealth of knowledge.
Dane Bora, Costa Mesa’s video production coordinator, said when his team needed footage from inside local restaurants or a hardware store, Fawcett made it happen.
“He’d make a phone call for us and we’d be in,” Bora said. “It was always a pleasure to work with Ed — a first-class guy.”
Longtime City Councilman Gary Monahan, who owns a restaurant and bar in town where Fawcett’s retirement party will be held, said Fawcett has always been good about aiding small businesses like his, not just flagship institutions like South Coast Plaza.
“It didn’t matter how big you were,” Monahan said. “He was always there for you.”
Fawcett noted that chamber membership isn’t as high as it used to be. From around 600 when he started, members now number about 400. He attributed the change partly to owners putting down fewer roots and being quicker to relocate.
“They don’t drop and build a relationship with their community,” he said. Still, he added, Costa Mesa is known as an incubator for businesses, which can outgrow their humble beginnings when they become successful.
He said in his early days with the chamber, he joined a neighborhood group that was helping to clean up Canyon Park. He would join in pulling weeds and planting trees. A woman said she was surprised to see him so involved, considering he lived in Tustin. He told her that in his new role at the chamber, he supported every facet of Costa Mesa.
“It’s our community too,” Fawcett recalled telling her.
When it comes to advice for Costa Mesa businesses, Fawcett harkened back to that experience in Canyon Park: “Remember to pull the weeds with your neighbors. Find commonality and then you can discuss differences.”
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If You Go
What: Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ed Fawcett’s retirement party
Where: Skosh Monahan’s, 2000 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa
When: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday
How much: Complimentary appetizers and a no-host bar
