Barr Leaves Healdsburg Chamber to Accept Winery Job

Mary Ann Barr, marketing and events director for the has left that post to take a job with DeLoach Vineyards.

Barr started in her new position as hospitality and special events coordinator for today, according to Chamber President and CEO.

"She's very excited and I'm very excited for her," said McElroy, who said she knew about Barr's decision several weeks ago. "It's a great career move."

Barr, 48, who is moving her home from Rohnert Park to Penngrove, said she was a Healdsburg Chamber staff member for two years, and prior to that was with the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce for one and a half years.

She said she was excited about the new job, which will be located at DeLoach's Santa Rosa headquarters on Olivet Road.

"It's a good move for me," said Barr, a Novato native. "I've always wanted to work in a winery."

, a Russian River winery, is owned by St. Helena-based Boisset Family Estates and has a tasting room in Healdsburg. Healdsburg's tasting room at 320 Center St. changed names today from to JCB Tasting Room, according to a company spokesperson.

McElroy, who took office as head of the Healdsburg Chamber in January, said she sent out an e-mail to Chamber board members last week about Barr's new job. McElroy said she declined to send an e-mail to all the Chamber members in order to accommodate Barr's request to keep the move low-profile.

"She didn't want to make a big deal about it," McElroy said. "I'm following her wishes."

Barr is the second staff member to leave the Chamber in the last five months for a wine industry job.

, former Chamber vistors and tourist information director, left in April for a position with the Healdsburg-based Wine Industry Network.

"For both of them, Mary Ann and Nick, it was a good career move," McElroy said.

McElroy said she will be posting a listing for Barr's replacement on the Healdsburg Chamber website shortly. She said she was planning to retool the job description slightly so it would not be an exact copy of Barr's former post.