Matthew Mahood has been named the next president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Coming over from the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, where he has held the lead role since 2002, Mahood will be replacing Pat Dando, who will be leaving the chamber after taking over in 2005.

Mahood’s credentials were recently put to the test as Sacramento fought to save its NBA franchise, the Kings, from fleeing town for Anaheim. The Kings will end up staying in Sacramento for at least another year after Mahood and Mayor Kevin Johnson made a passionate plea to keep the team, which included raising $10 million from companies to help fund a new arena.

Mahood, 45, will have a similar albeit somewhat different role in attracting a sports franchise to San Jose, as the city attempts to bring the Oakland Athletics south. City officials here have been waiting for more than two years to find out if a blue-ribbon committee formed by baseball commissioner Bud Selig says San Jose is the best place for the team to relocate to. If so, A’s owner Lew Wolff has said he will privately finance a new baseball stadium.

San Jose’s City Council recently moved forward with plans clarify use of land located south of HP Pavilion and grouped into a new body called the San Jose Diridon Development Authority. There are options to build a ballpark on the land, which would be leased rent-free to Wolff in return for millions in property taxes, or develop a combination of retail stores and corporate offices. In addition to either of those two projects, Diridon Station would be greatly expanded to include BART as well as High-Speed Rail.