After more than seven years working for the tourism board in Grays Harbor County, Barbara Smith is now the new director of the Kent Downtown Partnership and the city\u2019s charm is already working its magic on her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m already in love with Kent,\u201d she said last week.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just that her last office was a windowless room while her new one looks out on the city\u2019s downtown: Smith also is impressed with supportive nature of the people she is working with and their passion for downtown Kent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel like people are so caught up in individual lives they won\u2019t offer you an ear,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In her first month as the new executive director of the KDP, Smith is meeting a lot of people, talking to all of the members of the KDP board and also meeting with as many members as possible and is relishing her role as \u201cthe new cheerleader\u201d for downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plan is to continue to listen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Smith took over for retired executive director Jacquie Alexander on June 29, after training with Alexander since June 11, and said she realizes that she\u2019ll never quite fill the shoes of Alexander, a longtime friend who encouraged her to apply for the job. Smith is looking to make her own mark in the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t fill her shoes, but I can wear my own,\u201d she said with a smile.<\/p>\n
Smith, 59, was born in Grays Harbor County and was working in Olympia when a headhunter found her for a job with the Ocean Shores Chamber of Commerce, her first in the tourism industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had so much fun,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In 2000, Smith began working for Grays Harbor as the deputy director for tourism. Smith said much of her time in Grays Harbor was spent building partnerships among the many businesses to get them all on the same page to save money and make a bigger impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time I left we were all working together,\u201d she said. \u201cThat really taught me a lot about branding.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when Alexander announced her plans to leave, she contacted her friend to toss her name into the running.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe kept bugging me,\u201d Smith said with a laugh. \u201cI said, \u2018Fine, I\u2019ll apply!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said she used to visit Alexander often and she loved coming to Kent to do some shopping, but it was the dedication of KDP Board members and their obvious passion for Kent that made her want the job even more.<\/p>\n
Smith said she believes her role at the KDP is to learn what the businesses need to help them succeed and then work with the city to try and \u201crecruit and sustain\u201d businesses for the downtown core. She also believes that Kent needs to maintain its focus on the \u201chistorical downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOtherwise we\u2019re no different from any other downtown,\u201d she said, adding the city still needs to find a way to draw shoppers from Kent Station, though she admits it is probably a different demographic.<\/p>\n
She added that the KDP needs to be the \u201cvoice for our downtown businesses\u201d to put up a \u201cunited front\u201d when dealing with the city or other organizations.<\/p>\n
Smith, who has a business-management certificate and several night-school classes under her belt, said she has learned most of her skills by simply getting involved and she doesn\u2019t expect that to change in her new role at the KDP.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always known I don\u2019t know it all, nor will I ever know it all,\u201d she said. \u201cMost of my learning comes from rolling my sleeves up and doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ON THE WEB<\/p>\n
For more information on the Kent Downtown Partnership, visit www.kentdowntown.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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