The Greater Centralia Chamber of Commerce is welcoming an Assistant Director.
Malayla Downey will be a full-time employee and will concentrate on events and event coordination. She’s been hands-on with a Centralia organization The United Community Clubhouse. They have hosted Fish Fry Saturdays, an Annual Back 2 School Bash, and most recently Juneteenth.
“When I saw this position, I just said this is basically what I’ve been doing so far and it gives me an opportunity to really build on what I’ve done and just really helps connect different businesses to the rest of the community,” said Downey.
The chamber was forced to layoff a full-time employee in 2020 due to a lack of revenue and the cancelation of events. That left Executive Director Marcus Holland as the sole full-time employee. He says they are using a PPP loan and a state grant to bring back a full-time position and looks forward to Malaya helping connect businesses and the community.
Prior to accepting the position, Downey was a sales leader for A, T &T. In earlier roles, she also operated as a marketing coordinator for an HVAC company in Collinsville along with establishing her own freelance graphic design and marketing business.
Downey graduated from Centralia High School in 2015. After high school, she attended SIU Carbondale where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She later received a masters of science in marketing and mass communication from SIU-Edwardsville.
