Adam Bramburger
Beaver Staff
In Tiffany Lloyd, the Napanee BIA believes it has found the right person to fill its officer manager position that has been vacant since January.
Vice-chair Sondra Elliott told the Beaver she came away impressed by the way the new hire approached the interview process for an opportunity to work on behalf of downtown merchants.
“I think she’s going to be amazing. She’s very personable, she knows how to work with not-for-profits and boards of directors. I feel very confident in her being engaged with other members,” she said.
Elliott noted that Lloyd was very well prepared and even brought sample promotional flyers she’d created for Greater Napanee events using current information.
“I see Tiffany as a self-starter who is very congenial and very easy to work with,” Elliott added. “She has past experience in social media, marketing, and putting together business plans. It all gave her the experiences we were looking for in a candidate.”
Given that Lloyd’s fiance is one of the founders of Fire Reign and the couple is preparing to build a home within Lennox and Addington County, Elliott added it’s clear Lloyd has a vested interest in the town’s success.
Lloyd comes to the BIA with an administrative background. She has a diploma in medical office administration, but she said she quickly learned she didn’t want to work in a doctor’s office. She has found her calling is in social media — she’s handled that task for two start-up businesses — and community engagement.
“I very much like administration and I have a tendency of taking on any events, any outreach, and any engagement with clients,” she said. “Anything to do with social committees, that’s what I gravitate toward.”
Lloyd heard about the BIA position while talking with Lennox and Addington business development officer Tracey Snow and in a short time, she knew she wanted to apply.
“She explained what was involved and talked about the Scarecrow Festival and some of the downtown businesses and went into detail about what my role would look like. I said I’ve got to have this job.”
In the early days, Lloyd said she hasn’t been disappointed in her experience getting to know the membership.
“The people I’ve had the opportunity to meet are incredible. These businesses are where I want to do my shopping and to be able to come on board, support them, and be able to work with them was a great opportunity.”
In the short term, Lloyd said her first priority is continuing to meet business and property owners and learn about their needs. A second priority will be in building social media and web content; and a third is building on established festivals and events, as well as a Downtown Dollars program.
She sees Phase 2 of the Dundas Street reconstruction as an opportunity, rather than a challenge.
“I could look at this with a lot of negativity, thinking it’s going to be so negative for businesses and nobody is going to drive down here. It’s a great opportunity for marketing,” she said.
“Last year, they had a sidewalk sale and I intend to move forward with that again.”
Lloyd has already started working with Lennox and Addington staff and with the contractor Barr Construction Ltd. They’ve agreed to work with Lloyd on a weekly Facebook video campaign to alert people about the project.
“Hopefully they’ll get better with time,” she said of the video.
Elliott was pleased to see the first clip last week as it was.
“That’s something Tiffany created on her own, she took the initiative to get it up and running. I thought it was extremely well done. Having a video of the construction process will be very helpful to everybody. It doesn’t have to be for merchants, anybody who is curious can go onto the BIA Facebook page for regular updates.”
She said that illustrated the importance of having Lloyd in place prior to this month’s road closures.
“She’s already ahead of the game, for sure,” Elliott said. “The big thing with Phase 2 is communications and that’s really critical. It’s why we needed someone at the helm who was able to talk about these things, address members’ concerns, and be proactive in getting answers.”
Moving forward, Lloyd also said she has more ideas for promoting downtown she’d like to run by the board and she’s keen on working to get vacant storefronts filled.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in the downtown. I have some ideas. I’m going to be working with some people and looking forward to a bright future for downtown Napanee. It’s a great place to be.”