Even though he spent the past 14 years as CEO of the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce, David Smith was already a member of the Helena YMCA when he accepted an offer this summer to become the Y's new director.

Smith, 48, married an East Helena woman five years ago, but kept his job in Bozeman and spent most weekends in East Helena. His Y membership was part of getting settled in his wife's home community.

"We got married and decided we'd get together when we could," Smith said. "Five years went by and we were kind of doing a commuter marriage between Bozeman and East Helena."

Smith replaces Tyler Wright, who left Helena this summer to become director of the YMCA in Glendale, Calif. Smith started the job last month.

The local Y has around 1,200 members and an annual budget of $1.3 million.

Smith, who already has connections in the Helena business community from his time at the Bozeman Chamber, plans to strengthen the Y's bond with local employers.

"I want to connect with the business community and solidify the financial support for the Y, but also to take it a step further toward my second goal, which would be to grow the membership," he said.

Smith hopes to beef up wellness programs and other partnerships between the YMCA and area businesses.

"A lot of health insurers, and even employers, are recognizing that healthy employees are good employees," he said.

Peter Scott, a YMCA board member who chaired the hiring committee, said Smith's business background was attractive to the board for a couple of reasons.

"He approaches running the YMCA as a business, he knows his way around a spreadsheet, and that was very attractive to the committee members," he said. "And, of course, his obvious and deep ties with the business community in Montana separated him from other candidates."

Bozeman's chamber membership doubled during Smith's tenure, and Smith also oversaw a capital campaign that moved the organization into a new building. That experience could prove helpful here, as many acknowledge the local Y building at Centennial Park is showing its age.

While he has no concrete plans for the building, Smith acknowledged the 40-year-old facility is in need of maintenance. Smith said taking steps to improve the facility isn't too far down his to-do list.

Though it offers programs for people of all ages, around 75 percent of the YMCA's programming is geared toward youth.

"We're helping build their character, and hopefully those are values early on in a person's life that can serve them well through the years," Smith said.

Reporter John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com