The Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce said farewell this week to Jan Olearnick, the longtime executive director who has helped grow connections between business owners and the community they serve.

Olearnick is retiring after 17 years as the Chamber’s director. As director, she’s been the Chamber’s chief event coordinator, marketer, membership coordinator, budget planner and special project leader.

Over the years, Olearnick has been lauded for her many efforts to help member organizations connect with each other, support community charities and scholarships, and become involved with the well-being of Warrenton as a whole. In recent years, Olearnick also spearheaded the effort to reclaim local control over the Warrenton License Office, which under the Chamber’s guidance has become a model for public service.

Samantha Richardson, president of the Warrenton Chamber, said Olearnick has been a constant guide and mentor, helping members to network with and learn from one another. She has a knack for finding creative, yet practical ways to support the Chamber’s programs, and took personal interest in the success of each member, Richardson said.

“She has a very diplomatic way of telling us things, and she knows everything to know about the Chamber,” said Richardson, explaining that new elected officers often looked to Olearnick for context and guidance in their decisions for the organization. “Having her knowledge is priceless.”

Richardson said some of Olearnick’s greatest accomplishments have been her ideas that promote businesses in the community, such as an ongoing ‘Shop Local’ campaign, as well as programs that bring member businesses closer together, including a recent ‘Mullet Golf’ tournament (business on the front nine, party in the back nine). Olearnick was also chiefly responsible for acquiring control of the Warrenton License Office from an out-of-town management company that was lax about providing good customer service.

“She went through the state, she learned everything, she helped bid (our management), she did everything to get the Chamber the license bureau,” Richardson said. Since then, she said Olearnick has assembled a team in that has made the Warrenton office a model for other license offices to learn from.

In seeking a replacement director, Richardson said the Chamber needed to find someone who could be individually driven, comfortable leading public gatherings, and motivated to be an active and engaged member of the community. This week incoming director Stephanie Thomas was introduced to Chamber members.

Olearnick said she’ll still be around if anyone is in need of advice, but that she wants to make room for her successor to find their own new and creative ways of supporting the Chamber.

The now-retired director got her start with the Warrenton Chamber when she owned a snack store on Main Street. She was recruited to help direct the Chamber, which grew into a full-time position.

Olearnick said she spent a lot of time reaching out to chambers of commerce in neighboring areas, learning about what programs and resources had been beneficial to their communities so she could adapt those ideas for Warrenton.

“I’m thankful for 17 years of helping me grow, of helping me learn about myself and about people. I never thought I would be a collaborative person, and that was one of the first lessons I had to learn,” Olearnick commented.

She said the most endearing part of her job has been connecting with small business owners who are so hard working and generous to the community, that it makes you want to help them succeed.

“The Warrenton Chamber of Commerce supports our business community, and we encourage our businesses to be part of the (larger) community. We’re not only here to draw from the community, but to give back,” Olearnick said. “There are so many people who want to volunteer, who want to give, who want to see the community succeed without any compensation to themselves.”

For her successor, Olearnick said the most important advice is to “take care of the little stuff whenever you have a moment, and plan for the big stuff whenever you have a moment. ... You’re the one who everyone looks to to have those things prepared, so grab those moments.”

In the near future, Olearnick plans to just enjoy the freedom of retirement along with her husband. She added that in two years, the Warrenton Chamber will celebrate its 100th birthday, and she’ll be there for the party — but she’s happy to let someone else take care of the planning.