Hello Members –
There is a lot going on with our association! Your board and committee members have been very active of late working on your behalf. Throughout this legislative session our Public Policy Committee, along with our lobbyist, Luci Botzek, have been trying to stay on top of many of the issues facing our industry and heading off future concerns before they become a problem for us. Thanks to all of you who participate in that committee!
We just wrapped up another summer education conference. Great job to Joe Henry and our Education Committee for putting on a wonderful event, and to Cleone and her staff for getting us all set up at Fair Hills Resort in Detroit Lakes! What a beautiful spot. Having Senator Ruud, a great friend of tourism, address our group was a great addition to the agenda. I think we all learned a lot from each other.
Since the departure of our Member Services Director last December, your board has been actively involved discussing the wants and needs of our organization. We posted the position and looked at several possible outcomes and interviewed some highly qualified candidates. Ultimately, we chose to change the way we had been operating for the last few years and went back to a management company to assist us in moving our organization forward. The company we chose is called Dowell Management, headed by Larry Dowell. Some of you may know Larry from his many years as the head of the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce. The team at Dowell Management has an impressive list of clients and has accomplished many great things on their behalf. Their team approach to running our organization will offer us many benefits as well and will help our board keep focused on their keeping our organization strong.
The face from Dowell management who will be assisting our board will be Dee Schutte, who will act as our Executive Director. Dee has a very impressive resume as well, including leadership and executive management of chambers of commerce and other associations. Please give her a warm welcome when you meet her!
We are very excited about this new direction we are taking to continually move our organization and its issues forward.
Best wishes,
Dave Looby
Chair of the Board ~ MACVB
Director, Minneapolis Northwest Tourism
Website Design and Development by W.A. Fisher Interactive. Report Problems