Brittney Hudson, Roger Steele / Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
Submitted by Leah Bolin, president and CEO of the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
Chamber hires Hudson as director of community development
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Brittney Hudson as director of community development at the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center.
This newly created position is vital to the growth of Cullman County and to the success of the Chamber's 5-year strategic plan. Key objectives Brittney will immediately begin tackling include: Addressing the area's housing shortage, fostering downtown connectivity and revitalization in Cullman and Hanceville, and developing a plan to recruit people by promoting all of Cullman County as a “live, work, play” community.
The area's housing shortage will take early priority, with Brittney set to lead the Chamber's new Housing Taskforce. She will organize a housing assessment study to better identify Cullman County's housing needs. Once these gaps are known, Brittney will then advocate with builders and developers to help populate our market.
The hiring of a community development director is the last piece of the 'Converging for Success' puzzle. Brittney is uniquely qualified for this position. She earned her bachelor's degree from Auburn University, as well as her master's degree in community development and planning. I am confident that Brittney’s knowledge, skill set and ‘can-do attitude’ will make 2018 a productive year for our community.
While on the Plains, Brittney served as a graduate school senator and member of the National Political Science Honor Society. She's also worked as a graduate research assistant, providing extensive real estate and community development analysis within the university's Community Planning program. Her focus on floor area ratio analyzed the effects of land use regulations on property values and the rate of development.
Brittney has made Cullman County home with her husband, Courtney and their two daughters, Carleigh (3) and Cicily (1).
Please join us in welcoming Brittney and her family to the Chamber and to the community!
Chamber names Steele permanent director of tourism
The Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center has lifted ‘interim’ from Roger Steele's title and made him the permanent director of tourism. The move was recently approved by the Chamber's executive board and reaffirmed by the Chamber’s tourism board.
Roger has been hard at work since joining the Chamber staff in late October. Over that time, he's been responsible for forming a Smith Lake Advisory Committee to develop a new website promoting the lake, vastly increasing exposure of the Visit Cullman Facebook page, assisting in the development of a more user-friendly Visit Cullman AL mobile app, and locking down Smith Lake as the site of the 2018 Fishers of Men Southeast Region 2 Championship to be held in November.
Currently, Roger's top priority is establishing a strategic plan for tourism focusing on four key areas: Smith Lake, sports marketing, religious tours and agritourism.
Roger comes to us with almost 20 years of sales and marketing experience. He has a passion for Cullman and has proven himself to be a valuable asset to our team and for tourism in Cullman County.
Roger is a Cullman High School graduate and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UAB. An accomplished writer, he's won multiple awards from the Alabama Press Association and had academic work published in “The Alabama Review.” Roger and his wife, Karen, have two children, Amelia and Nathan.
