Montana Main Street Conference 2008
Speaker Biographies
Todd Barman, Program Officer, National Trust Main Street Center
Todd Barman joined the staff of the National Main Street Center in 2006 and has almost 12 years of firsthand Main Street experience. He is a leader at the Center in the area of economic restructuring, including research and applications in the area of entrepreneurship and market position. He served as the Assistant State Coordinator for the Wisconsin Main Street Program from 1999 until 2006 where he provided comprehensive technical assistance in the field of downtown revitalization to Wisconsin’s Main Street communities. He is an experienced trainer with demonstrated ability to connect Main Street’s Four Points and convey the big picture. Barman coordinated the market analysis technical support service in Wisconsin, and led efforts to develop the nationally recognized Downtown and Business District Market Analysis Toolbox. Prior to that, he spent three years as the Manager for the Darlington, Wisconsin Main Street program. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Linda McCarthy, Executive Director, Missoula Downtown Association
Linda McCarthy is in her ninth year as the Executive Director of the Missoula Downtown Association. During her tenure, the MDA has tripled in growth in both membership and revenue generation. Under her leadership, the Missoula Downtown Association produces nearly 40 public events and 35 membership events each year. Today, downtown is in the midst of a master planning process to develop a 20-year plan for Downtown Missoula. McCarthy is a double graduate of the University of Montana, receiving her bachelor’s in Communication Studies in 1991 and her master’s in Public Administration in 1999. A native of Dupuyer, Montana, McCarthy was named the UM Alumni of the Year
for 2008.
George Everett, Executive Director, Mainstreet Uptown Butte
George Everett has been the Executive Director of Mainstreet Uptown Butte since 2002. During that time, he has coordinated the lighting of seven headframes, the planting of almost 500 new street trees, and the painting of more than 35 historical facades in Uptown Butte through Mainstreet’s High Impact Paint Program. More recently, Everett coordinated the successful effort to propose that Butte host the National Folk Festival from 2008 to 2010, the first time this major festival has been held west of the Mississippi since the 1960s. In 2002, Everett successfully nominated Butte to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to be listed as one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations to encourage travelers with an interest in cultural tourism to plan a visit. In addition to Main Street, Everett has published more than 100 stories on subjects related to Butte’s history, business and travel that have appeared in a wide range of national and regional magazines and newspapers.
Brent Campbell, President/CEO, WGM Group, Missoula
Brent Campbell, P.E., has more than 20 years of experience in planning, design, and construction. He has worked on projects ranging from rural road rehabilitation and reconstruction to the EIS preparation and design of multi-million dollar facilities. Campbell brings an excellent knowledge of infrastructure planning, design, and traffic engineering, and finance for community development. He is an enthusiastic participant in numerous community activities, including Missoula’s River City Roots Festival, for which he co-won the Downtowner of the Year Award. Campbell also serves as a board member on the Missoula Downtown Association.
Jeremy Keene, Principal Engineer, WGM Group, Missoula
Jeremy Keene, P.E., has more than 14 years of experience specializing in urban planning and design, including a wide range of transportation, civil engineering, and mixed-use redevelopment projects. He is actively involved in the revitalization of Missoula’s Midtown and is a board member of the Missoula Midtown Association.
Jeff Milchen, American Independent Business Alliance, Bozeman
Jeff Milchen is a national leader in helping build vital local economies focused on local entrepreneurs. He co-founded the American Independent Business Alliance, which helps communities nation-wide launch local Independent Business Alliances, “buy local” campaigns,” group purchasing and marketing initiatives, and more.
Independent Business Alliances are based on a model Milchen pioneered in Boulder, Colorado in 1998. Since 2001, nearly 50 IBAs have formed (two in Montana) in communities from small towns to major cities and their growth is accelerating rapidly. These Alliances play a crucial role in creating and maintaining opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Milchen is a prominent advocate for independent business and entrepreneurs as a writer as well as a speaker. His commentaries and how-to articles have appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, High Country News, Inc. Magazine, and The Ecologist.
Paul Reichert, Helena
From 1997 to 2006 Paul Reichert served as the Executive Director for the Downtown Bozeman Partnership and Downtown Helena Business Improvement District, managing many downtown revitalization projects. He expanded both cities’ BID districts and has worked with many public and private organizations. In 1995, he organized Montana’s first Livable Communities conference and helped launch the Montana Smart Growth Coalition. Reichert has worked on completing new streetscapes, parking structures, master planning, and other public/private projects. He currently serves as the Executive Director for the Montana Heritage Commission, managing state historic sites in Virginia City and Reeders Alley.
Greg Krueger, Development Director, Downtown Billings Partnership
Greg Krueger manages the Urban Renewal and Tax Increment District Management for the Downtown Billings Partnership and the Downtown Development Corporation. Krueger’s background includes several years of corporate-level marketing and management experience, as well as community involvement. He graduated from Eastern Montana College (now MSU-Billings) with a degree in Secondary Education - Communications major - English minor. Krueger has been working for Downtown Billings since the fall of 1998. He grew up in Billings and taught for a number of years at the Billings Career Center in the Broadcasting area. For 15 years he served as an Independent Contractor for the American Express Company, serving Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, and Hawaii. Recently, he was selected to be the statewide membership chairman for the International Downtown Association.
Steve Doherty, Great Falls
Steve Doherty was born and raised in Great Falls and is a partner in the Great Falls and Missoula law firm of Smith & Doherty, which emphasizes Indian law. He is the former Minority Leader of the Montana State Senate (for two sessions) and was in the Senate for a total of 12 years in Majority and Minority leadership positions. He is currently the National Co-Chair of the Progressive States Network, a non-partisan, national resource for progressive legislators. Doherty has also served as a trainer for the National Democratic Institute in the People’s Republic of China. He earned his law degree from the Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, where he was honored as a Distinguished Environmental Law graduate, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Joe Lawniczak, Design Specialist, Wisconsin Main Street
Joe Lawniczak has been the Design Specialist for Wisconsin Main Street since 2001. Lawniczak works with building owners, city officials, volunteers, etc. in the 37 Main Street communities throughout Wisconsin in preserving and restoring historic building facades, establishing local preservation tools, and providing preservation and design education. Before joining Wisconsin Main Street, he worked for 12 years at the architectural firm of Berners-Schober Associates in Green Bay. Lawniczak serves on the Public Policy Committee for the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation, as well as the Scenic Byways Advisory Council for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. He has written preservation-related articles and publications for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Wisconsin Main Street, and has been a featured speaker at many preservation, planning and design workshops across the state and nation.
Rep. Dan Villa, D-Anaconda
Dan Villa, who will be the keynote speaker before dinner on Sept. 29, has served every day of his adult life in public service to his hometown of Anaconda. Shortly before his 18th birthday, he was appointed to the Deer Lodge County Planning Board, where he was later elected chairman. At 19, he was elected to the Anaconda School Board. At 21, he was elected to the Montana House of Representatives where he currently serves as the Democratic Caucus Leader and is the youngest member of legislative leadership in the United States. In 2008, he was honored by the Montana Ambassadors as Legislator of the Year for his work on economic development and education legislation.
Presently, he is the President of the Anaconda Local Development Corporation and a member of the Montana Economic Development Advisory Council. Villa has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Montana School Boards Association and on the Certification Standards and Practices Advisory Council to the Montana Board of Public Education.
