After 39 years, Larry McHugh is retiring from the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, the group announced today.
Following McHugh’s retirement at the end of the year, Johanna Bond will take over as the new president and CEO. McHugh first joined the chamber in 1983. He cited a desire to spend more time with his family as his reasoning for retiring.
“It has been a wonderful 39 years working with an outstanding staff, volunteers and fantastic Board chairs to create the most vibrant and largest chamber in Connecticut,” McHugh said in a statement. “It is now time to move on and spend more time with my wife, Patty, and our family.”
McHugh has long had one of the most active chambers in Connecticut with more than 2,000 members, and his monthly meetings are typically headlined by top statewide or even nationally-known business, political and other leaders.
A former high school teacher and football coach, McHugh is also known as one of UConn’s biggest boosters, having served as the school’s board of trustees chairman from 2009 to 2017.
Ahead of his retirement at the end of December, the chamber’s executive committee has been working closely with McHugh on a succession plan. According to the chamber, Bond first joined in 1994 and was most recently the group’s chief operating officer.
Bond, who called McHugh a mentor, will resume her new duties Jan. 1, 2023.
