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Sebring CRA Considers Marketing Coordinator

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From left: Dick and Allora Couture, Jim Kegley, Wanda and Jim Baker chat during the Gallery Walk in downtown Sebring last year. Sebring's Community Redevelopment Agency is considering contracting a marketing director who would coordinate events such as Gallery Walk and market the downtown district.

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: January 16, 2008

SEBRING — Downtown businesses continue to try to lure people to the City on the Circle, and now the Community Redevelopment Agency is considering hiring a marketing coordinator to help with these efforts.

Linda Kegley, owner of LK Artworks Gallery and Graphics, submitted a proposal to CRA members to create the position of a marketing coordinator to advertise downtown as a destination and coordinate events to generate traffic downtown.

Kegley, who has more than 25 years of advertising and marketing experience, said she would like to be considered for this position, at a rate of $24 per hour or about $24,000 per year for 20 hours of work per week.

Kegley recently represented Sebring at the Downtowns and Small Towns Forum in St. Augustine and said she gathered ideas for marketing and events, such as downtown shopping gift cards, art contests and a farmers' market.

Dan Andrews, president of Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber already manages 10 events downtown, which bring more than 15,000 people to the area, and helps promote three other events downtown.

Andrews said he thinks the chamber could share some alternate ideas on how to market downtown without hiring a consultant.

"If the CRA has interest in marketing downtown, I think we can start with the ideas the downtown council and chamber already have," Andrews said. "I don't know that hiring a consultant should be the first step. I would like to see them look at other options for marketing downtown."

CRA member Kelly Griffin also questioned spending so much money for marketing expenses.

"I think our responsibility is more to the infrastructure of downtown and making it enticing to merchants," Griffin said. "I'm not sure if it's our responsibility to fund a position like this to this degree, especially when we have a downtown merchants association and chamber of commerce that are capable of marketing."

Gene Brenner, president of CRA, said he thinks the downtown council, a division of the chamber that last met in the summer, needs new energy. Brenner, also a downtown business owner, said he is in favor of hiring someone to market downtown.

"The focus hasn't been back on downtown (since the chamber moved to U.S. 27)," Brenner said. "We need more help downtown to be successful."

Kegley said she wants to work with the chamber and pool its resources with the downtown merchants to help the area prosper and market Sebring to people on the coasts as a place "to live, work and have fun."

Pete Pollard, executive director of CRA, said he thinks a lack of communication exists between downtown merchants and the chamber, which is fueling some of the problems.

"We can solve this problem if we pull together and start working together instead of throwing stones. The stone throwing is going on and it needs to stop," Pollard said. "We are on the edge of something very exciting happening here once the market turns around. I am afraid if we don't start pulling together, we may miss a wonderful opportunity."

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