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FREE Vol. 39 No. 11
March 19, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Austin Chamber names new executive director
Ed Coleman, former CEO of Bethel New Life and West Side Forward, has come out of retirement to lead the chamber By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
The Austin Chamber of Commerce named a new executive director last month: Ed Coleman, a longtime influential figure on Chicago’s West Side, who is now using his extensive connections to support local businesses. Coleman served as chief innovation officer, vice president of community economic development, then president and CEO at Bethel New Life. He was also the founding CEO of West Side Forward, a spinoff of Bethel New Life that launched in 2019. “I thought I had retired,” Coleman said after he stepped down from West Side Forward at the end of 2023. But a job at the Austin Chamber of Commerce brought him back to the workforce.
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See COLEMAN on page 9 Growing Community Media’s
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