Everyone wants Paul Guzzi’s job, and its big paycheck

Who knew so many people wanted to grow up to be our next chamber leader?

It’s high-profile for sure, but also high- paying. Guzzi made about $510,000 in 2012, according to the latest available records. Pretty good money for a gig that involves presiding over early-morning networking breakfasts. All that coffee, all those soggy Danish pastries. What stress.

Still, the list of candidates is ever-growing. Some appear to want the position badly; others are being wooed to throw their hats in the ring.

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Here are the names I keep hearing, in no particular order: former state transportation secretary Rich Davey, state economic secretary Greg Bialecki, state labor secretary Rachel Kaprielian, treasurer and former gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority executive director Jim Rooney, former state legislator and attorney general candidate Warren Tolman, former Boston city councilor and mayoral hopeful Mike Ross, former Boston Globe publisher Chris Mayer, and Dot Joyce, former spokeswoman for Mayor Tom Menino.

There are also three internal candidates: chamber executive vice presidents Katy O’Neil and Jim Klocke and vice president of communications Charles Rudnick.

John Fish, Suffolk Construction chief executive and chamber chair, and Hill Holliday CEO Karen Kaplan are heading up the 10-member search committee. Not only is the chamber presidency a highly sought-after seat, but it’s also a hard one to fill.

Here’s why: The pressure is on for the chamber to become relevant as technology makes networking free and easy.

The 1,500-member organization hasn’t adapted fast enough to the changing business community around it. Startups are the most dynamic part of our economy, yet they’re under-represented in the chamber, whose dues-paying membership still skews old economy. Think financial services, development, and law firms.

Last summer’s tech-tax fiasco was a case in point. The chamber, along with other traditional business groups in town, didn’t oppose the tech tax initially, and Beacon Hill went along with it. Tech firms cried foul, and eventually the chamber and others worked to help get the tax vetoed, but not without exposing the disconnect between our old and new economies.

Meanwhile, companies today are more likely to be active in their own industry associations, from the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council to the tech community’s MITX.

Guzzi, a former secretary of state and Wang Laboratories executive, was brought in to stabilize the finances of the chamber. He’s done that — the group’s rainy day fund is now up to $4.5 million — but there’s a feeling his departure is a chance to create a chamber of the future.

Over the summer, the chamber hired the consulting firm McKinsey Co. to begin that soul-searching process. The organization knows so far that it must embrace innovation and will make that its fourth pillar, alongside networking, advocacy, and leadership. The chamber also wants to attract younger members and people of color, as well as take a regional approach by collaborating with chambers outside of Boston.

“I don’t think it needs to be a radical change,” Fish told me.

Actually, this sounds pretty radical, and the chamber should own it. If done right, the organization can become more of a force in town. It wasn’t Guzzi’s style; he’s more of a diplomat.

The chamber board is on the right path, but finding that leader to get them there will be no easy task. You want someone with a fresh perspective, but also someone who knows the community and has the community’s trust.

“It’s not lost on us,” Kaplan said of the search’s difficulty. “We are taking this seriously.”

The chamber will need to if it wants to keep up with the fast pace of Boston business. Otherwise, it risks being left behind.

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