Board of Directors & Staff

Downtown Manhattan Inc.

President: Nathan Bergman, Principal Engineer at Bartlett & West

Vice-President: Diane Born, Office Manager at Varney & Associates

Treasurer: Brad Simonsson, General Manager of Manhattan Town Center

Board Members at Large:

Cory Field: Owner of Brown’s Shoe Fit

Mary Fischer: Owner of Gaia Salonspa

Jocelyn Gulifoyle: General Manager of Bling

Lindsay Hufnagel: Owner of The Boutique

Rick Munson: Owner of Gatherings at 313

Katie Stone: General Manager of Bourbon & Baker

Ex-Officio Board Members:

Jason Smith: President of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce

Jason Hilgers: Deputy City Manager for the City of Manhattan

Monty Wedel: Director of Planning & Development for Riley County

Ben Sigle (Community Member at Large): Owner of Manhattan Running Company

Staff:

Gina Scroggs: Executive Director, DMI

Brooksie McCarty: Administrative Assistant, DMI

Morgan Biles: Event Manager, DMI

Steve Still: Maintenance, DMI

 

Downtown Manhattan, Inc.
Goals and Objectives
2019-2020

• Initiatives
  • Friends of the Neighborhood Associate membership program
  • Open Container by Special Event Permit
  • Linear Trail Access from Downtown
  • Riverfront Development
• Organizational Processes and Efficiencies
  • Shared data storage for all staff
  • Process and procedure documentation for all staff
  • Grants for beautification, banner and flag program, community art and small business success campaigns
  • Community-Member-At-Large (ex-officio) addition for the Board
  • Paid time off for full-time staff
• Partnerships, Sponsorships and Collaborative Efforts
  • Partner with City Administration and BBN to redesign city plaza
  • Collaborate with community art partners to further grow Third Thursdays
  • Maintain a working relationship with RCPD for public safety, event management and towing issues
  • Continue to work with Parks and Rec on a variety of issues:
    • Parade logistics
    • Third Thursday festival hardware
    • Holiday banner program
    • Enhance round planters with annual color
    • Carriage rides pick up/drop off shelter
  • Public Art: liaison between AHAB and downtown stakeholders
  • Require contractual agreements with all event partners
  • Develop a sponsorship program for event support
• Events, Programming and Management
  • Conduct an event audit to assess the viability of current events and identify the value and purpose of existing events
  • Create a new revenue-producing event with community value
  • Start a focus group for plaza programming
  • Hire an intern for event support
  • Develop the scope and experience of Third Thursdays
    • Purchase festival flags and hardware
    • Create database of artists
  • Facilitate City Commission Candidate Public Forum for the purpose of engaging and informing the public