Pat Avery’s return to Port Arthur will rightfully draw local plaudits. The former Total administrator was steeped in community affairs here before her retirement and move to Houston.

Small wonder, then, that she said she’s been hearing from lots of old friends who are pleased that she will come back, at least for a while.

Avery will return as president and CEO of the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce, replacing Bill McCoy, whose retirement is imminent. The announcement was revealed Monday.

That position holds great community importance and her experience on the chamber board while she worked in Port Arthur should prepare her well for taking the top spot, perhaps for a year. Avery was involved in leadership responsibility with Golden Triangle Days and for long years on the chamber’s executive board.

Stuart Salter, who headed the chamber’s search, said Avery’s leadership tenure will likely last a year or more, while the search committee seeks a longer-term leader.

“We are stealing her from retirement,” Salter said.

In accepting the position, Avery told the committee she did not intend to stay long — “She doesn’t want to work forever,” Salter said — but he said the board expects her to add her own imprint on the position and the chamber itself. That’s the right attitude: Avery’s participation in this community’s civic and service life over two decades was deep and beneficial. She should make a happy impact while overseeing the chamber.

She joins a chamber that’s in good financial and organizational stead. The chamber in 2018 earned 5-Star Status, a benchmark that only 2 percent of all chambers of commerce reach. With 600 members, it carries great weight in the business community.

Avery will lend at least two talents that should aid the chamber. She is steeped in knowledge of the oil and gas industry, having served in leadership positions for Exxon and Total. This is energy country.

And she has long experience in human resources; available workers are scarce for good jobs in this community, and she will understand where the chamber’s good influence will matter most — public education.

She also has a reputation for developing relationships, which should benefit not only Port Arthur’s chamber but others, as well. This week, she talked about boosting smaller area chambers and leveraging the Greater Port Arthur’s resources to help them. That’s a great idea.

There are many chambers in the Golden Triangle but there should be one, overriding goal: areawide development and success. Siting a plant in Sabine Pass is as much a win for Beaumont and Orange as it is for Port Arthur; workers will come from all of our hometowns. We’d love to see more areawide cooperation; Avery should be the right leader for that.