Main Street Alabama announces new board, staff promotions

Published 9:53 am Thursday, April 21, 2022

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PCI CEO, chairwoman selected to board

Poarch Creek Indian CEO and Chairwoman Stephania Bryan is one of 11 new board members for Main Street Alabama (MSA), according to a release.

MSA recently announced the new board members and new board chairman. MSA is a non profit that supports work in revitalization efforts in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts across the state.

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The new board members began their three-year terms in February 2022, and can serve a maximum of two terms.

The new board members are Bryan; Ronald W. Davis, executive director of the Wiregrass Resource Conservation and Development; Charles Goodrich, director of Timberline Venture Investments; Tina Naremore Jones, Ph.D., vice president, division of economic and workforce development at the University of West Alabama; Matt McCurry, manager of business development at Alabama Power Co.; Joshua Vick, business development lead at Spire; non voting members, State Sen. Clyde Chambliss; State Rep. Anthony Daniels; Scott Farmer, executive director, Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission; Hunter Gentry, executive director at Historic Main Street Oxford; and Connie Payton, city clerk, at city of Calera.

“We’re excited to welcome eleven new members who will bring diverse expertise from different areas of the state,” said MSA State Coordinator Mary Helmer Wirth. “We have worked diligently to ensure Main Street Alabama’s board and leadership represents a variety of fields including from higher education, state leadership, advocacy groups, utilities and the newest board members are no exception.”

MSA also selected Jim Byard Jr., Byard Associates, as its new board chair. Byard has served on the MSA board since 2017 and is replacing Immediate Past Chair, Lisa Miller, Manager of Communications and Economic Development, Alabama Municipal Electric Authority.

“I am personally delighted to welcome such a strong group of new board members, and I look forward to serving with each of them in the coming year,” Miller said. “I’m also very pleased that Jim Byard will lead the next chapter of our work in his new role as board chair. Jim has demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing Main Street’s mission, and we’re looking forward to his leadership.”

Main Street Alabama’s Trisha Black was recently promoted from marketing and communications manager to assistant state coordinator. Black has worked with MSA since February 2016 after working in the role of executive director of the Main Street program in Athens.

To see a full list of the MSA Board and to learn more about Trisha, visit www.mainstreetalabama.org.

Main Street Alabama is a 501(c)(3) organization focused on bringing jobs, dollars, and people back to Alabama’s historic communities. Economic development is at the heart of this statewide organization’s efforts to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Main Street Alabama is the state coordinating program of the National Main Street Center and utilizes the proven Main Street Four- Point Approach to help communities organize themselves for success, create vibrant public spaces through design, promote their districts, and enhance their economic base.