Vater joins Blount Partnership as director of tourism
From Staff Reports
Blount Partnership President/CEO Bryan Daniels announced today
that Tami Vater has been hired as the director of tourism after a more than yearlong search to
replace Herb Handly who retired in June 2011.
“Getting a person of Tami’s caliber and experience is going to be a tremendous asset to the Blount Partnership as we head forward under the newly formed Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority,” Daniels said in a release Tuesday. “She will be called upon to represent more sectors of the business community as it relates to tourism, especially bringing in events that benefit those areas.”
Vater, who assumes her duties on Aug. 6, served for nearly four years as the executive director of the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce/Tourist Commission in Versailles, Ky., located just outside of Lexington.
“I’m extremely excited about joining the Blount Partnership and moving to Blount County,” said Vater. “A chance to work with such a well-respected organization was something I couldn’t pass up. The new tourism authority gives the partnership the opportunity to really expand its role in marketing all the assets of the county to a variety of travelers.”
Her position within the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority (SMTDA) consists of recruiting events in the areas of leisure, business and resort sectors to the county for overnight stays.
While at Woodford County, she coordinated activities for the Chamber and Tourism Commission while assisting in support of community and economic development opportunities in a partnership with the cities of Midway, Versailles and Woodford County.
Her previous work experience includes an 11-month stint as the executive director at Liberty-Casey (Ky.) County Economic Development, a three-year stay as the executive director at Anderson (Ky.) County Community Development Council, three years as the communications-marketing associate at the Kentucky Historical Society and two years as executive director at Elizabethtown-Hardin (Ky.) County Heritage Council.
Additionally, according to the release, she has managed multimillion-dollar grants for local projects and worked closely with city and county governments to further community development projects.
She is a 1999 graduate of the Kentucky Institute for Economic Development, a 2001 graduate of the Kentucky Certified Main Street Managers, a 2008 financial professional graduate from the National Development Council and is currently studying at the University of Oklahoma/Economic Development Institute.
She received the Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Publications Award in 1999 and the Kentucky Tourism Council Traverse Award in 2005 for her work with the Bluegrass Wine & Spirits Tour.
Vater earned degree in business administration from Northern Kentucky University in 1983. She has one daughter, Kyla, and a granddaughter, Cassie, both of Falmouth, Ky.
“Getting a person of Tami’s caliber and experience is going to be a tremendous asset to the Blount Partnership as we head forward under the newly formed Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority,” Daniels said in a release Tuesday. “She will be called upon to represent more sectors of the business community as it relates to tourism, especially bringing in events that benefit those areas.”
Vater, who assumes her duties on Aug. 6, served for nearly four years as the executive director of the Woodford County Chamber of Commerce/Tourist Commission in Versailles, Ky., located just outside of Lexington.
“I’m extremely excited about joining the Blount Partnership and moving to Blount County,” said Vater. “A chance to work with such a well-respected organization was something I couldn’t pass up. The new tourism authority gives the partnership the opportunity to really expand its role in marketing all the assets of the county to a variety of travelers.”
Her position within the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority (SMTDA) consists of recruiting events in the areas of leisure, business and resort sectors to the county for overnight stays.
While at Woodford County, she coordinated activities for the Chamber and Tourism Commission while assisting in support of community and economic development opportunities in a partnership with the cities of Midway, Versailles and Woodford County.
Her previous work experience includes an 11-month stint as the executive director at Liberty-Casey (Ky.) County Economic Development, a three-year stay as the executive director at Anderson (Ky.) County Community Development Council, three years as the communications-marketing associate at the Kentucky Historical Society and two years as executive director at Elizabethtown-Hardin (Ky.) County Heritage Council.
Additionally, according to the release, she has managed multimillion-dollar grants for local projects and worked closely with city and county governments to further community development projects.
She is a 1999 graduate of the Kentucky Institute for Economic Development, a 2001 graduate of the Kentucky Certified Main Street Managers, a 2008 financial professional graduate from the National Development Council and is currently studying at the University of Oklahoma/Economic Development Institute.
She received the Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Publications Award in 1999 and the Kentucky Tourism Council Traverse Award in 2005 for her work with the Bluegrass Wine & Spirits Tour.
Vater earned degree in business administration from Northern Kentucky University in 1983. She has one daughter, Kyla, and a granddaughter, Cassie, both of Falmouth, Ky.
