FREEPORT – For the second time in a matter of months, the Greater Freeport Chamber of Commerce is looking for a new executive director.

While no candidates have been identified yet, the organization will give strong consideration to those with close ties to the community.

“We’re looking very closely at local candidates,” said Michelle Allott, a member of the chamber’s board of directors.

Doug Porter, 60, who joined the chamber as its executive director on Nov. 13, announced on Jan. 2 he was resigning for personal reasons, according to Allott. She said Porter has left Maine to return to Florida, where he had lived for 10 years before taking the post in Freeport late last year.

Porter, the former head of the York Chamber of Commerce and the Gateway to Maine Chamber of Commerce, joined the chamber to replace Deb King, who left in September to become the executive director of the Brunswick Downtown Association.

Peter Warren, the chairman of the Greater Freeport Chamber of Commerce, said that Porter announced his resignation in a letter to the board.

Warren said Porter did not give a specific reason for his resignation, and Warren did not want to speculate on the reason. He said he would miss having Porter on the job.

“We loved his energy and we’re sad to see him go,” he said.

Member Services Director Carolyn Krahn will fill in as interim director, a position she also filled before Porter was hired last year.

Warren said there is no time frame for finding a permanent replacement for Porter.

Krahn said that she would not be seeking the executive director job on a permanent basis. “I really love my job as member relations director,” Krahn said. “I am a firm believer in the Freeport chamber.”

Porter did not respond to an email request seeking comment for this story.

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