LA PLATA, Md. (Dec. 20, 2007)—The Charles County Commissioners and County Administrator announced the addition of two new staff members in the Department of Economic Development (EDD). Donna Dudley has been selected as Tourism Chief and Amy Calvin has joined the EDD office as the County's new Events Specialist. Both positions have a special focus on County tourism development.
Donna Dudley, who will begin work on January 7, 2008, comes from the Four Rivers Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town, & South County, Inc., where she served as Executive Director since 2002 and Heritage Area Coordinator for the year prior. The Heritage Area is a regional partnership that includes the State of Maryland, Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the Town of Highland Beach, and other nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
During her tenure with the Heritage Area, Dudley managed development of new heritage tourism products and activities, working with public and private sector partners. She created, directed, and implemented marketing and outreach efforts and wrote and administered more than $1 million in grant funding.
Prior to working with The Four Rivers Heritage Area, Dudley was the Curator of Education for Dumbarton House in Washington, D.C. She also held a similar position with The Navy Museum. She has a B.A. in History and an M.A. in U.S. History from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, with significant hours towards a PhD from the University of Connecticut.
Calvin has already started working in the EDD office as the County's Events Specialist. In that role, Calvin will coordinate the County's 350th birthday activities throughout the coming year.
"The goal of the County Commissioners is to have at least one big event per quarter--concerts, arts & crafts festivals, community activities, and the like," said Marcia Keeth, Acting Director of the Department of Economic Development. "Amy will work with organizations that already have events that we can help support and grow, such as the River Artsfest, which the Charles County Arts Alliance does every year, and shell be starting from scratch on other, new events to bring in events that we haven't had before, such as concerts from nationally known names."
Charles County will celebrate its 350th birthday throughout 2008 with a number of events already on the calendar, including educational activities such as a lecture series at the College of Southern Maryland, family entertainment activities, concerts, and a 350th Gala. Ms. Calvin will coordinate these events for the County, working with the 350th Birthday Committee, which was appointed by the Charles County Commissioners.
Before joining County Government, Calvin was with Civista Medical Center, where she worked in Customer and Community Relations. She also worked as a Development Associate for the Civista Health Foundation. She holds an M.A. in Management from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland with a concentration in Marketing and Public Relations and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A lifelong resident of Charles County, Calvin is a graduate of McDonough High School. She can be reached at calvina (at) charlescounty.org.