07-22-10 New Director of Downtown Business Recruitment Announced

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Office of the Mayor NEWS RELEASE July 22, 2010 10:30 A.M. Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 or Jeff Gibney, Director of Community and Economic Development, 235-9371 New Director of Downtown Business Recruitment Announced South Bend: Tamara Nicholl-Smith has recently joined the City of South Bend’s Department of Community and Economic Development as director of downtown business recruitment. In this newly created position, Nicholl-Smith will be developing and implementing long and short term business recruitment programs that fit into the overall downtown development plan. Nicholl- Smith’s immediate focus is the adaptive reuse of the College Football Hall of Fame, reaching out to and meeting with key community stake holders, as well as analyzing current and future downtown development opportunities. “This new position was created out of the need for the downtown to have a representative whose full time effort is retail recruitment. It clearly shows the City of South Bend’s commitment to attracting new businesses to downtown and the desire to build upon the efforts and work of the Department of Community and Economic Development,” said Jeff Gibney, Executive Director of South Bend’s Department of Community and Economic Development. “Tamara will continue to expand upon our efforts at the Department as well as other programs developed by Downtown South Bend, Inc.” "It's energizing to have Tamara focused on recruiting new retail businesses to downtown," said Marco Mariani, executive director Downtown South Bend, Inc. (DTSB). "She's highly motivated and will work collaboratively with our real estate partners and others to make our retail vision for downtown a reality." While an employee of the Department of Community and Economic Development, Nicholl- Smith will be working out the DTSB office, fully integrating this new position within the larger plans for downtown. “My position is truly an addition to the business retention efforts of DTSB,” said Nicholl-Smith, “I hope to build off of their extensive efforts to create, promote, and market a vibrant downtown. Because of the programs and incentives that are already in place, I will be able to analyze the effectiveness of each current program and research new possibilities for downtown businesses.”