Sponsor Spotlight: Downtown South Bend, Inc. (DTSB)
Interview by Patrick McGuire, enFocus Innovation Fellow and project leader
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role in the community.
Since May of 2010, I've been Executive Director of Visit South Bend Mishawaka, which is the official destination marketing organization for St. Joseph County. South Bend is my hometown, so it’s been a real pleasure positioning it as effectively and strategically as possible for people to visit and enjoy our community. Downtown South Bend (DTSB) is a vital partner of Visit South Bend Mishawaka. DTSB focuses on strengthening and growing the vitality of downtown to get visitors and residents to live, work, and play there. When I first moved back to South Bend 12 years ago, it was the first board position I said yes to—it was a no-brainer. I've been on the board since then, and I became Board President in 2018.
What led to the strategic business planning project that we partnered on?
It had been a tough time for the organization. In the throes of the pandemic, there were no events being hosted by DTSB. A lot of companies were still working remotely, so there was not nearly as much vitality in the central business district. There was strain on our downtown businesses, which meant less community partnerships coming in. We also had our Executive Director transition to a new position, which was the third executive director in about a five-year period that had left DTSB.
All of this presented an opportunity for the executive committee to be like, you know what? Let's take a step back. Let’s take stock. Why are we having this turnover? Why are community partnerships down? What can we do when we bring events back? What can we do to make them better?
That's where enFocus became a natural part of the potential solution—the resources you provide locally which aim to make our communities and regions better were a perfect fit for us. We needed help to envision a new and reimagined DTSB - one that's going to be able to retain an Executive Director, that's going to be able to bring back events, that's going to maybe even be able to reach out into other districts within the city and replicate some of DTSB’s successes.
So that was a lot to think about and a lot to take on—certainly too much as volunteer board members for us to just do it alone. enFocus really became a perfect partner for us with that, and we were able to weave in the search for a new Executive Director as well.
I'm pleased to say that over the course of May through October, we were able to perform a search, hire our new director, and identify a business plan that will be a great game plan and resource for not just her success but the organization’s success and growth. It was the right time and the right place for DTSB to contract with enFocus and really bring that outside perspective in and help us with a plan to move the organization forward in a more effective way. It's been exactly what we needed.
What do you love about South Bend that you would want to share with someone reading this?
I always say it’s the people. I think you’ve probably gotten a pretty effective introduction to the people of South Bend through this project! Just think of the people you’ve encountered—our downtown business owners like Peg Dalton or Mark McDonnell, the best possible ambassadors for South Bend. Think of our partners in the City like Aaron Perri, MVPs in our community. You come across so many people who are just so real and genuine and trying to make our community better each and every day. Downtown is the heart and soul of the community, but it’s the heart and soul of a community of really genuine people. It makes me realize that is why I continue to stay here and try to give back and try to keep making it better, because what you see is what you get. And hopefully, with each passing day, we're trying to make what you see even better.
Learn more about enFocus' work with regional organizations in our next Sponsor Spotlight.