Through the Years

jo kathmann - Past President & CEO

Can you explain how you got your start in tourism?

“I was at The Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows for 30 years and kind of began tourism there with The Way of Lights. I was able to travel nationally on behalf of the Shrine and got very involved with tourism because that’s really what it was, to bring the many buses there to the Shrine at Christmas time. Then I heard that the bureau was looking for someone, I had been on the board of the tourism bureau back in the mid-80’s so I had connections in and out many years ago. So fortunately, I was hired and the rest is history – and we’re still here aren’t we?”

One of your early hires was Darlene Chapman, now the President & Finance Director. Can you explain how that came to be?

“After I became CEO at the time, that is when we uncovered, and I was unaware of it when I was hired, that we owed a quarter of a million dollars to the state. The state didn’t know it either, but we found that out with the help of the firm that Darlene was with. She was so competent and delightful, and I would have staff come in and say have you thought about hiring Darlene Chapman? I said, I’m on it – and I was fortunate enough to get her. I couldn’t imagine functioning without her doing our finances. Couldn’t imagine it.”

What was your main goal for the bureau?

“I wanted for the bureau to become active in the eight counties that I inherited at the time. When I was here we had eight counties, and now there are 21. We’ve grown quite a bit over time, and we traveled quite a bit and got to know wonderful people in these communities.

I enjoyed meeting people, talking with people, getting to know who they are, where they are, what they want, their needs. And that to me was the key when we traveled, to get to know them and find out what they wanted and see how we could help them grow their community. That to me was the key and the best part of it.”

Is there anything that really stands out in your time here?

“All those years and all those successes thanks to the talented staff, my favorite part of the bureau was being surrounded by talent, and dedication, and loyalty – and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. We became a movement in the truest sense of team, and we were always there for each other, and there’s no question in my mind how it took us out of debt, how we enlarged our footprint in Illinois because of the talent of the staff, that’s what I miss most of all.”