Tauranga Chamber of Commerce is looking to shore up its vision and direction for its latest chief executive before it finds a replacement for the outgoing Dave Burnett - as his predecessor rules himself out of the running.

Dave handed in his resignation last week after 12 months in the role. He is yet to disclose what his future plans are having declined to comment on the resignation when approached by SunLive.

Photo: File.

At the same time, SunLive were informed that former chamber chief executive of five years Max Mason had resigned from his post as village manager at Ryman Healthcare's Bob Owens Retirement Village.

But Max says there is no link between himself and the vacant role, and instead he is preparing to travel to Boston in the US to be with wife Helen as she continues studying a year-long medical research fellowship.

Helen, the chief operating officer of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, was named a New Zealand Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice for 2014-15. She is currently completing her research project in Boston at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

'We thought that we could stick out a year apart but it's been really tough,” says Max :Six months has gone by and we have realised we really want to be together.

'It's a really tough decision but at the end of the day, what I have learnt from managing a retirement village is you must use every minute to be with the people you love.”

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce board chairman Luke Stewart says the board acknowledges Dave's contribution in the last 12 months but will not be drawn into the reasons behind the resignation

Until a new candidate is confirmed for the role, the board has appointed the current vice-chairperson, Toni Palmer, as interim-CEO on a part-time basis.

Luke says applications for the position will open in the near future after the board works through the chief executive's job description that fits in with the chamber's vision and direction going forward.

And he is expecting a strong amount of interest in the role given the number of applications last time around, which saw some 40 applications whittled down to a shortlist of four.

'There is some advantage to being local,” says Luke, 'because it is largely relationship-based and it's important to have those connections and relationships. But the right person can build those pretty quickly as well.

'I don't think we are going to favour or disfavour local - it will just be the right person for the role with the right skill set to do what the board wants to happen.”