Talbot Merges Economic, Tourism Departments

Published in Star Democrat | Connie Connolly | November 27, 2016

Talbot County has merged its offices of economic development and tourism to form a single department, and with the realignment, two new county staffers are coming on board under the new Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

“The council sees a synergy between the two departments,” county manager Andy Hollis said.

The idea had been discussed informally for a few months before the decision recently was made to merge them.

Cassandra Vanhooser, who had served as tourism director since February 2013, is now director of the new Talbot County Department of Economic Development and Tourism. Samuel Shoge joined the department as economic development coordinator on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

One more person is in the hiring pipeline to fill the project manager position to be announced by the end of the year, said Jennifer Williams, the council’s vice president.

“Both departments have the same function of promoting the county,” said Williams, an Easton attorney. “Being able to bring them together in one room is a win-win for everybody.”

It was a pragmatic decision to combine the offices.

“So much of the functions of the two offices mirrored each other,” said Williams, who is the council liaison to the Economic Development Commission.

The realignment will not increase the county budget, Hollis and Williams said. The retirement of former director Paige Bethke and realignment of personnel has made the new hires possible.

The newest member of the DEDT is Shoge, a Chestertown native.

“He’s fantastic, a ball of energy,” Williams said. “He brought to his interview a list of short-term, mid-term and long-term goals.”

Shoge will report to Vanhooser, Hollis said, but “he will have a great deal of independence. He has an amazing amount of energy and focus.”

“Both of us are selling the county essentially to two different audiences,” Vanhooser said.

While Vanhooser focuses on attracting visitors to the county, Shoge will develop those same visitors as potential residents and business owners.

Vanhooser and Shoge want to attract millennials like Shoge, who is 27 and a graduate of Elon University. In fact, that demographic is one of the council’s priorities.

“Kudos to the council for hiring Sam,” Vanhooser said.

“We are here to help that exact demographic,” Shoge said. “A lot of people are interested in launching their own businesses and following their dreams.”

Shoge said the DEDT wants to get these millennials connected to people who will help them get their businesses off the ground.

Shoge wants to hit the ground running.

“Our stakeholders want to see action-oriented results,” he said. “The (conceptual) foundation has been laid. We want to start checking off that list.”

A comprehensive communications strategy that includes relationship building through an enhanced social media presence will create a unified message.

“When people visit and fall in love (with the county), we want to follow them and be in the back of their minds as a prosperous place to reside and do business,” Shoge said.

That’s what happened to Vanhooser. A native of Tennessee who spent more than 14 years as a travel and features writer at Southern Living magazine covering the mid-Atlantic region, she clearly recalls “coming into St. Michaels and rounding that corner to see all of the shops lit up at night,” she said. “I thought I had stepped into (artist Norman) Rockwell country.”

“This is an amazingly beautiful place,” said Vanhooser, who won the prestigious Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award for excellence in travel writing. “I have chosen to make my life here, and I was lucky enough to get a job here.”

Under Vanhooser’s leadership, the Talbot County Office of Tourism won the Maryland Office of Tourism Development’s Visit Maryland Award in 2015 for outstanding investment and performance in improving and promoting Maryland’s image as a travel destination.

The office also recently won the Maryland Tourism Coalition’s 2016 Visionary Impact Award for its efforts in hosting travel writers and destination representatives in Talbot County for a three-day conference and familiarization trip in September.

“I have traveled the world, and I truly believe Talbot County’s is one of the most beautiful and special places in the United States,” Vanhooser said. “A strong business community ensures that both residents and visitors alike will enjoy this place we love so much for generations to come.”

Calling herself a “farm girl,” Vanhooser earned a degree in agriculture and now lives in McDaniel.

“I think the future is bright here,” she said. “We have some of the brightest people and amazing thinkers right here in Talbot County.”

She praised the county’s agricultural roots, Chesapeake culture, the “wonderful restaurants and incredible art scene,” all while still being able to enjoy “the night stars in the sky.”

Shoge nodded his head in agreement.

“The gravitational pull of the Eastern Shore is something you can’t escape from no matter what,” Shoge said. He thought he would be settling in Baltimore or Washington, D.C., after college, but “something is always tugging you back home,” he said.

Shoge comes to the job from the Chestertown Town Council, where he served on the Chestertown Planning Commission. He is one of the founders of the Kent County Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals, where he helped grow membership and engage working professionals to get them involved in the community.

In addition to his public service, Shoge previously worked as assistant director of the Office of Admissions at Washington College. He also was chairman of the government relations committee for the Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling, where he lobbied the Maryland state legislature for higher education initiatives.

Shoge’s plans do not just include attracting tourists to come back and establish businesses here. He is interested in a holistic approach to economic development by partnering, for instance, with the Talbot County Board of Education to help “close the achievement gap” and make sure there are “abundant opportunities to climb the social mobility ladder” when students graduate, he said. “That’s why economic development is so vital. We want to provide stepping stones.”

“The Talbot County Council believes it makes sense to more closely align the efforts of economic development and tourism, both of which share marketing and communications as foundations,” Vanhooser said in a Nov. 21 press release. “Research shows that the perception of an area’s business climate is positively influenced by marketing to leisure travelers. People who choose Talbot County as a vacation destination may also be potential business leads.”

“We are telling Talbot County’s story. That is what we do in tourism and that’s what we do in economic development,” Vanhooser said. “And we have a terrific story to tell. Merging the two offices just gives us the structure to continue to improve our storytelling, to collaborate and to partner in a forward-thinking way to better tell the world what is so special about visiting, living and doing business in Talbot County.”

“We look forward to the energy and collaboration the new structure will bring to this department,” Talbot County Council president Corey Pack said. “We have built a department that we believe can help us better support our business community and help lead us toward a bright future.

“Cassandra and Sam will make a great team. Talbot County is open for business.”