BERLIN– The town officially named its new economic and community development director on Tuesday, replacing Michael Day, who is retiring.
When Day announced his retirement last spring, many Berlin residents wondered how the town would replace one of its most universally liked public officials. Enter Ivy Wells, the current economic development director of Sykesville, Md. and longtime collaborator with Day.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Wells moved to Maryland at a young age, attended school in Laurel and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland College of Journalism with a concentration in marketing, advertising and public Relations.
Wells later worked for Post-Newsweek Media in Montgomery County with Bayside Gazette Publisher Elaine Brady.
“I wanted to be a writer for as long as I could remember,” she said. “Once I started taking classes at the University of Maryland, I learned more about the business environment and promotion, and even entertainment. My internship was with Student Entertainment Enterprises at the University of Maryland, and I was involved in every aspect of booking events for the University of Maryland for a semester, which included the great drug debate with Abbie Hoffman and Timothy Leary. I really fell in love with the entertainment aspect, first and foremost.”
Wells, not unlike Day, followed an organic path in becoming the economic development director of a small town, starting with volunteer work and grant writing.
“We were living in Silver Spring at the time and I had a 2-year-old son and was getting ready to have a second son, and knew I wanted to find an area where it was not as crowded and there were great schools and a great place to raise a family,” Wells said.
Wells and family moved to Sykesville, a small town of roughly 4,000 people in Carroll County.
“When my kids were a little bit, I started volunteering and attending mayor and town council meetings,” she said. “I wanted to see how small-town government worked, and I was trying to get more involved with what was going on in town to see how I could help.”
In 2007, Wells pitched in by writing a grant application to save a historic building. The grant was approved and Wells was offered a part-time position as economic development director.
“It’s funny because I always wanted to be a writer, and now it seems that I found my calling to write grants to help communities, which is extremely fulfilling,” she said.
Her next project was revitalizing the Sykesville Concerts in the Park series.
“I had a lot of connections with local bands – some well-known groups – and I had them come out and perform and the attendance grew to over 300,” she said. “For our small town, when you have a little concert with maybe 20 people and that grows to 300 it’s pretty amazing.”
Like Day, Wells helped her town receive a Main Street designation.
“Michael and I, we have the same legacy with our situations,” she said. “We kind of went through a lot of things together (and) we talked a lot about helping each other out. He would get ideas from me and I would get ideas from him, and we struck up a really great relationship and we remain colleagues and friends ever since.”
Berlin’s resurgence began with the revitalization of the Atlantic Hotel by a group of local businessmen, but a meeting with town merchants and their new economic development director pushed things to the next level.
Day convinced Berlin businesses to get on the same page and to work as one cohesive unit. Wells held a similar meeting in Sykesville.
“We had a lot of vacancies on Main Street,” she said. “So I had a big pep rally and I gathered (property owners) and I gave the whole speech about, ‘What’s so great about our Main Street’ and how we have to follow this program and this is what we’re going to do and we’re going to make some changes and, ‘who’s with me?’ And I had a lot of support. We had a lot of volunteers, people were excited and the word got out.
“The important thing is meeting with the property owners,” Wells continued. “I can sell the town and have a business that would love to come here, but if I don’t have a property owner that wants that business in his building, that’s a problem. So I met with all the property owners and they loved the idea, they loved the concept. You have to sell them the philosophy of building up the town. So that’s what I did, and we started enticing businesses.”
The plan worked, drawing several new shops and merchants. Next, Wells used her entertainment background to launch a series of new high-profile events, including the Sykesville Fine Art and Wine Festival.
“The kind of people that come to a fine art and wine festival – they’re not slapping the bag,” Wells said. “It worked out really well, and it was even more successful than I thought it would be. During first event, in 2010, we almost ran out of wine, which is kind of unheard of for a small town. The second one I ran out of wine glasses in two hours.”
When Berlin began looking for a new economic and community development director, Wells’ name was at the top of the list. Still, she admitted to having a few nervous moments during the interview process.
“I hadn’t gone through an interview since I worked for Post-Newsweek Media 20-something years ago,” Wells said. “It was very interesting to me because (at) the town of Sykesville job I was just a volunteer and they asked if they could hire me, so I never really had to do this before. Believe it or not, in my years of experience I never had to go through the interview process.”
Wells hopes to hit the ground running soon, with goal number one to keep the town’s momentum going.
“I see what’s happening in ‘America’s Coolest Small Town’ – Berlin just got this award,” Wells said. “Just because it’s for the year 2014 doesn’t mean this cannot last for the next 20 years. Michael and I had talked during the whole voting process about how amazing this would be and I remember thinking, once the announcement was made, they have to keep this going. When the next town gets it the next year you can’t stop using that.”
Wells saw a similar opportunity after Sykesville was awarded state and national designations as a Main Street.
“You have to keep that momentum going,” she said. “It’s like a football game: you get a pick-six and the momentum is high and you want to keep going. You don’t want to lose the momentum of the award that you’ve been given. You can use that for the next 20 years – it’s still America’s Coolest Small Town no matter what year it is.
“Berlin had a lot of vacancies and Sykesville had a lot of vacancies and now both towns are full,” Wells continued. “Now it’s just maintaining the passion. It’s almost as if everything that’s happening in Berlin now are the things that I was attempting or trying to do in Sykesville.”
When Day announced his retirement last spring, many Berlin residents wondered how the town would replace one of its most universally liked public officials. Enter Ivy Wells, the current economic development director of Sykesville, Md. and longtime collaborator with Day.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Wells moved to Maryland at a young age, attended school in Laurel and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland College of Journalism with a concentration in marketing, advertising and public Relations.
Wells later worked for Post-Newsweek Media in Montgomery County with Bayside Gazette Publisher Elaine Brady.
“I wanted to be a writer for as long as I could remember,” she said. “Once I started taking classes at the University of Maryland, I learned more about the business environment and promotion, and even entertainment. My internship was with Student Entertainment Enterprises at the University of Maryland, and I was involved in every aspect of booking events for the University of Maryland for a semester, which included the great drug debate with Abbie Hoffman and Timothy Leary. I really fell in love with the entertainment aspect, first and foremost.”
Wells, not unlike Day, followed an organic path in becoming the economic development director of a small town, starting with volunteer work and grant writing.
“We were living in Silver Spring at the time and I had a 2-year-old son and was getting ready to have a second son, and knew I wanted to find an area where it was not as crowded and there were great schools and a great place to raise a family,” Wells said.
Wells and family moved to Sykesville, a small town of roughly 4,000 people in Carroll County.
“When my kids were a little bit, I started volunteering and attending mayor and town council meetings,” she said. “I wanted to see how small-town government worked, and I was trying to get more involved with what was going on in town to see how I could help.”
In 2007, Wells pitched in by writing a grant application to save a historic building. The grant was approved and Wells was offered a part-time position as economic development director.
“It’s funny because I always wanted to be a writer, and now it seems that I found my calling to write grants to help communities, which is extremely fulfilling,” she said.
Her next project was revitalizing the Sykesville Concerts in the Park series.
“I had a lot of connections with local bands – some well-known groups – and I had them come out and perform and the attendance grew to over 300,” she said. “For our small town, when you have a little concert with maybe 20 people and that grows to 300 it’s pretty amazing.”
Like Day, Wells helped her town receive a Main Street designation.
“Michael and I, we have the same legacy with our situations,” she said. “We kind of went through a lot of things together (and) we talked a lot about helping each other out. He would get ideas from me and I would get ideas from him, and we struck up a really great relationship and we remain colleagues and friends ever since.”
Berlin’s resurgence began with the revitalization of the Atlantic Hotel by a group of local businessmen, but a meeting with town merchants and their new economic development director pushed things to the next level.
Day convinced Berlin businesses to get on the same page and to work as one cohesive unit. Wells held a similar meeting in Sykesville.
“We had a lot of vacancies on Main Street,” she said. “So I had a big pep rally and I gathered (property owners) and I gave the whole speech about, ‘What’s so great about our Main Street’ and how we have to follow this program and this is what we’re going to do and we’re going to make some changes and, ‘who’s with me?’ And I had a lot of support. We had a lot of volunteers, people were excited and the word got out.
“The important thing is meeting with the property owners,” Wells continued. “I can sell the town and have a business that would love to come here, but if I don’t have a property owner that wants that business in his building, that’s a problem. So I met with all the property owners and they loved the idea, they loved the concept. You have to sell them the philosophy of building up the town. So that’s what I did, and we started enticing businesses.”
The plan worked, drawing several new shops and merchants. Next, Wells used her entertainment background to launch a series of new high-profile events, including the Sykesville Fine Art and Wine Festival.
“The kind of people that come to a fine art and wine festival – they’re not slapping the bag,” Wells said. “It worked out really well, and it was even more successful than I thought it would be. During first event, in 2010, we almost ran out of wine, which is kind of unheard of for a small town. The second one I ran out of wine glasses in two hours.”
When Berlin began looking for a new economic and community development director, Wells’ name was at the top of the list. Still, she admitted to having a few nervous moments during the interview process.
“I hadn’t gone through an interview since I worked for Post-Newsweek Media 20-something years ago,” Wells said. “It was very interesting to me because (at) the town of Sykesville job I was just a volunteer and they asked if they could hire me, so I never really had to do this before. Believe it or not, in my years of experience I never had to go through the interview process.”
Wells hopes to hit the ground running soon, with goal number one to keep the town’s momentum going.
“I see what’s happening in ‘America’s Coolest Small Town’ – Berlin just got this award,” Wells said. “Just because it’s for the year 2014 doesn’t mean this cannot last for the next 20 years. Michael and I had talked during the whole voting process about how amazing this would be and I remember thinking, once the announcement was made, they have to keep this going. When the next town gets it the next year you can’t stop using that.”
Wells saw a similar opportunity after Sykesville was awarded state and national designations as a Main Street.
“You have to keep that momentum going,” she said. “It’s like a football game: you get a pick-six and the momentum is high and you want to keep going. You don’t want to lose the momentum of the award that you’ve been given. You can use that for the next 20 years – it’s still America’s Coolest Small Town no matter what year it is.
“Berlin had a lot of vacancies and Sykesville had a lot of vacancies and now both towns are full,” Wells continued. “Now it’s just maintaining the passion. It’s almost as if everything that’s happening in Berlin now are the things that I was attempting or trying to do in Sykesville.”