MARIETTA — Sharon Mason of east Cobb has been promoted as second in command of the 35-member Cobb Chamber of Commerce staff, behind CEO David Connell.

A Snellville native who served as the Chamber’s membership division vice president, Mason replaces Demming Bass, who resigned last month to spend more time with his family.

Mason said Connell asked her to take over the position when Bass resigned. Her new title is chief operating officer and senior vice president of membership and marketing.

“We have restructured internally just so we can better serve our members,” she said. “I will be overseeing all internal operations, which includes member development, member services that we do, all the programs that we do, including the marketing, public policy department.”

The Chamber is governed by a 62-member board with a membership of 2,600 businesses.

Chamber Chairman Greg Morgan called Mason a servant leader. “She’s not going to be the kind of person who would ask you to do something that she wouldn’t be willing to do herself,” Morgan said. “A very hard worker for sure, and to an accountant, one of the more important things is she’s an excellent accountant of the membership dues. That’s one of the things to me I’m really impressed with working with Sharon, making sure we’re spending our money wisely.”

Mason’s immediate project is working with the United for Kids campaign to pass the special purpose local option sales tax for Cobb County and Marietta schools. The referendum is up for a vote March 19.

“That’s a major priority for us for economic development, knowing that if it does not pass then taxes will go up on property taxes for residents and businesses, so that’s an important issue, not only for our schools but also for our businesses,” she said.

Mason has a bachelor’s in journalism and mass communications from Samford University. She previously worked for the Birmingham Regional Chamber and the Cumberland Community Improvement District’s Commuter Club.

She and her husband, Mike Mason, a global alliance manager with Intercontinental Hotel Group, have one daughter, Addilyn, who will enroll in Timber Ridge Elementary School this fall.

They are active at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and volunteer together as preschool teachers.