By Nick Casey

joe hu/town crier Carol Olson will be leaving as president and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce this year.

When Carol Olson arrived at the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce in 1996, the city was in the midst of unprecedented economic growth. Silicon Valley was booming, and most businesses were so overwhelmed with customers that few employers had time to participate in chamber events.

“And then things changed,” said the chamber’s current president and CEO.

As the economy gasped in 2000, the slump seemed to be felt everywhere in town except the chamber of commerce. “Things actually began to pick up here,” Olson said. “Small businesses now needed to help each other out.”

Olson responded with a flurry of mixers, networking initiatives and collaborative projects designed to build solidarity among local enterprises.

“It’s our tag line: Connecting the business community since 1922,” she said.

This year is Olson’s tenth and last at the chamber. Olson grew up in Woodside, and graduated from Woodside High School and UC Berkeley, where she majored in English. After a brief period in Portland, Ore., she returned to California, eventually taking the program manager job at the chamber in 1996.

“It was a great introduction to the workings of the city,” she said. “It prepared me quite a bit.” Two years later, she took the helm of the organization.

Olson, 38, will remember Mountain View for what she describes as its welcoming and innovative atmosphere. “The city encourages people to be involved, active and progressive,” she said. “When my husband and I moved in, we immediately felt a part of the community.”

To foster community involvement, Olson helped oversee the Leadership Mountain View program. The nine-week course brings together 30 adults to study the workings of the community and how best to participate as proactive leaders. “If you look at any board or council, you’re bound to find one of our graduates,” Olson said. The roster of alumni includes State Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, a Democrat who represents Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino as well as portions of San Jose, Santa Clara and Los Altos.

For younger community members, Olson promoted the Diversity Youth Forum which this year celebrates its ninth anniversary. The program is a collaboration with the Mountain View-based Oriki Theatre and brings about 100 students from 10 local schools to discuss cultural diversity. Last year, the forum centered on the theme “Braving the Diversity Storm,” with special focus on racial issues arising in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“The students are young, but they constantly surprise me at how thoughtful and aware they are,” Olson said.

Olson explained that community outreach is a central part of any chamber of commerce. “New initiatives, community partnerships and educational task forces are all part of making this a great community,” she said. “And yet there is still so much more that we can do.”

Olson anticipates a bright future in Mountain View and a flourishing downtown that is more pedestrian friendly, safe and clean. She is pleased with the city’s recent approval of a new pharmacy and a central parking garage, and looks forward to more diversification of retail in coming years.

Olson will leave the job later this year to devote more time to her family and a new position at the Morgan Family Foundation in Los Altos. In the coming months, she and her husband, Steve, also plan to adopt a child from Guatemala.

“I’m very optimistic about everything,” she said.