Greater Starkville Development Partnership Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Gregory was tapped to serve as the directors’ representative for the Mississippi Main Street Association Board of Directors.
Directors’ representatives serve two-year terms and represent the 51 Main Street programs across the state.
She joins Lori Tucker, the executive director of Baldwyn Main Street Chamber, who is serving through 2016 in the position.
Gregory joined the Partnership in 2009 when she took over tourism initiatives and managed Starkville Main Street Association. In 2013, she was named CEO after former leader Jon Maynard resigned for a similar job in Oxford.
Under Gregory’s leadership, tourism initiatives — Pumpkinpalooza, Starkville Restaurant Week, Bulldog Brunch and Browse, among others — have become viable in their ability to attract visitors and additional spending.
Tourism spending has increased in Starkville by 50 percent in five years.
Last week, the local business community celebrated 15 years of the Partnership’s influence and impact in Starkville.
MMSA also announced two new board members — Ed Gardner Jr. and Keith A. Williams — were elected this week.
Gardner Jr. is Entergy Mississippi’s director of business and economic development, while Williams serves as Mississippi Regional’s president of Hancock Bank in Gulfport.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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