Bauer, 37, picked up the gavel for the first time Wednesday at the chamber's monthly meeting of the 22-member board.
"It was a little tense, but we got through it," said Bauer. "You make the motions, get the ayes and nays, and move on to the next subject."
After that experience, he chaired a similar leadership forum for high school students for the next two years.
Bauer's also been a member of other boards, ranging from the International Wildlife Film Festival to the Camp Fire youth group. He said the chamber helps give local businesses a voice and keeps them abreast of changes.
"I like civic service," he said. "It's part of the job to get out and give back to the community."
Bauer, the operations manager at Allied Waste Services in Missoula, said his focus over the next year will be growth and helping the chamber cross the 1,000-member mark.
"We'll aggressively recruit new members, while also working on retention," he said.
The chamber has a tiered membership, ranging from $350 to $10,000 a year, which Bauer said caters to a variety of businesses.
He said they've made overtures for the Greenhorns, a local group of 25- to 40-year-old young professionals, to become a committee of the chamber.
Jack Chambers, chief executive officer of Opportunity Resources Inc., nominated Bauer to the one-year term.
He said Bauer's business insight helps him relate to the chamber's diverse members, which range from one-person businesses to companies employing hundreds.
"It is hard in a membership group to be all things to all people," Chambers said. "I think Chad brings new energy."
Kim Latrielle, chief executive officer of the chamber, said there were about 1,100 members when she came aboard in 1993.
"The exciting thing for us is we are close to about 1,000 members, so this is the largest our membership has been" for a while.
She said she expects Bauer will have a great year.
"I think his strongest trait is his humor," she said. "He's approachable and members are not afraid to bring things forward. And he's a person of his word."
Bauer said the chamber's new government affairs committee will help "keep members in the loop" and more informed about activities at the local, state and federal level.
Bauer has held the operations manager post at Allied for the past 12 years, where he's concerned with the day-to-day tasks of running the business.
He started in the firm in 1988, during a summer break from Big Sky High School. He graduated in 1989 and attended the University of Montana for one year, taking business classes, before he joined Allied. He said he worked on trucks and in the landfill, and then did market development for three years.
His 61-year-old father, Max, works at Allied as do two brothers and one sister.
"I was on the trucks, and picked up litter and basically did whatever I was told to do by grandpa and dad," he said.
This is a big year for Bauer on the personal front, too. He's getting married to Tiffany Jasper in Caras Park on Sept. 13.
He said the two enjoy attending concerts together. He also loves the outdoors and going hunting with his 16-year-old son, Tyler.
"I hunt big game, small game, birds - it doesn't matter what it is," he said. "I just like to be outdoors."
Reporter Pamela J. Podger may be reached at 523-5241 or at pamela.podger@missoulian.com.
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