SOA Seeks Executive Director

The Spirit of Athens Board of Directors is accepting applications/resumes for Executive Director through December 30, 2015.  Trisha Black, current Director, recently accepted a position with Main Street Alabama. 

• Coordinate the activity of the Spirit of Athens’ committees, ensuring that communication among committees is well established; assist committee volunteers with implementation of work plan items.
• Manage all administrative aspects of Spirit of Athens, including purchasing, record keeping, budget development, accounting, preparing all reports required by the state Main Street program and by the National Main Street Center, assisting with the preparation of reports to funding agencies, and supervising employees or consultants.
• Develop, in conjunction with the board of directors, downtown economic development strategies that are based on historic preservation and utilize the community’s human and economic resources. Become familiar with all persons and groups directly and indirectly involved in the downtown. 
• Mindful of the roles of various downtown interest groups, assist the program’s board of directors and committees in developing an annual action plan for implementing a downtown revitalization program focused on four areas: design/historic preservation; promotion and marketing; organization/management; and economic restructuring/development.
• Develop and conduct on-going public awareness and education programs designed to enhance appreciation of the downtown’s assets and to foster an understanding of the Main Street program’s goals and objectives. 
• Use speaking engagements, media interviews, and personal appearances to keep the program in the public eye. 
• Assist individual tenants or property owners with physical improvement projects through personal consultation or by obtaining and supervising professional design consultants; assist in locating appropriate contractors and materials; when possible, participate in construction supervision; provide advice and guidance on necessary financial mechanisms for physical improvements.
• Assess the management capacity of major downtown organizations and encourage improvements in the downtown community’s ability to carry out joint activities such as promotional events, advertising, appropriate store hours, special events, business assistance, business recruitment, parking management, and so on. 
• Provide advice and information on successful downtown management. Encourage a cooperative climate among downtown interests and local public officials.
• Advise downtown merchants’ organizations on activities and goals; help coordinate joint promotional events, such as festivals or business promotions, to improve the quality and success of events and attract people to downtown; work closely with local media to ensure maximum coverage of promotional activities; encourage design excellence in all aspects of promotion in order to advance an image of quality for the downtown.
• Help build strong and productive relationships with appropriate public agencies at the local and state levels.
• Utilizing the Main Street program format, develop and maintain data systems to track the progress of the program. These systems should include economic monitoring, individual building files, photographic documentation of physical changes, and statistics on job creation and business retention.
• Represent the community to important constituencies at the local, state, and national levels. Speak effectively on the program’s directions and work, mindful of the need to improve state and national economic development policies as they relate to commercial districts.