Marjorie Luke has been visiting West Hartford since her high school days, when she shopped, ate at the downtown restaurants and walked around the reservoir.
So it’s no surprise that her new job as president of the town’s chamber of commerce keeps her involved with local business owners.
The Granby resident graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1969 with a degree in English. Luke started in the insurance industry at Aetna and ended up as CIO for the investment division and retirement and investment services division at Cigna, where she stayed for 23 years.
“When I left there in 1994, I really wanted to focus on working in nonprofit management and social services,” Luke said.
She worked as an independent business consultant for the United Cerebral Palsy Association, an organization that she had been involved with while at Cigna. Luke had also served as president of the boards at Foodshare and Kidsafe CT.
“I really wanted to bring more business focus to these organizations, to give them discipline,” she said. “I took my experience in the corporate world and applied it where I thought it could make a difference.”
Luke spent the next 10 years consulting at organizations ranging from small businesses to nonprofits, including Tennessee Gas, the Northeast region subsidiary of El Paso Corp.
When the West Hartford chamber position became available, Luke saw her chance to get back to a more stable position.
Now at the head of the organization, Luke can bring her business background to strengthen offerings to members.
“Our work is improving the product to members,” she said. “We need to look at membership in terms of market segments and work with the companies to understand what will help them specifically. Our goal is to know where our members’ needs are headed in a year to two years.”
Emily Boisvert is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
