Visit SC County’s Maggie Ivy To Retire • Long-Time Second Harvest CEO Retiring

Visit SC County’s Maggie Ivy To Retire

After 26 years, Maggie Ivy, CEO and executive vice president of Visit Santa Cruz County, has announced she plans to retire Nov. 12.

Ivy, 58, of Aptos, told the 25-member Board of Directors in July.

“It is time for me to begin the next chapter of my life and to make way for new leadership to guide and support our local tourism industry,” she said.

The board will work on a recruitment process.

Her leadership — establishing a countywide tourism marketing district in 2010 with an assessment on hotel rooms and vacation rentals, provided resources for promotional programs and grew the budget for tourist promotion by 500 percent.

The assessment supported by the lodging industry was recently renewed for seven more years by elected city and county officials, leaving Visit Santa Cruz County in a strong financial position, according to Visit Santa Cruz County. Careful oversight of resources by Board of Directors and staff has ensured maintenance of a healthy reserve.

Recovery is underway for the tourism sector, which was heavily impacted locally, nationally, and internationally because of orders to shelter-in-place to slow spread of COVID-19.

With funding from the tourism assessment, the Santa Cruz County Visitors and Conference Council — as it was then known — changed its name, created a strategic plan, launched a new website and rebranded with a new tagline, “Let’s Cruz.” Ivy pushed for “shoulder season” campaigns to increase visits by people within driving distance during non-summer months, fostered a stronger collaboration with Visit California, and developed longterm initiatives to promote Santa Cruz County overseas. Statistics show international visitors to the county up from 8 Maggie Ivy percent to 13 percent before the pandemic. Ivy embraced expanding online, digital, and social media programs, and reports they, combined with traditional promotional channels, have made a significant, positive impact on the region’s economic vitality. She credited these successes to advocates who supported her. “It has been my great fortune to work with hundreds of dedicated business leaders, elected officials and a plethora of talented staff,” she said. “I owe them all a debt of gratitude for their time, their commitment, and their loyalty to our tourism industry.” n ••• For information, visit santacruz.org.

“Friend” from page 9

In April 2020, a month after the pandemic shelter-in-place began, Coronado’s City Council created the “Lifeline Business Loan” program to provide loans up to $20,000 to small locally owned businesses generating sales tax and adversely impacted by COVID-19 to strengthen their ability to recover. The amount outstanding is about $300,000.

Salary for Coronado’s city manager: Approximately $250,000, according to the post by the Ralph Andersen consulting firm.

The job drew 65 candidates, and Friend was one of six invited to interview, according to the announcement from Coronado, resulting in two finalists.

Family Balance

Friend comes from a military family and her father was stationed in Southern California.

Her husband, Zach Friend, who was first elected to represent Aptos in 2012, is a native of San Diego and lifelong fan of the Padres, an interest he’ll share with their 6-year-old son.

Asked about the new post, Zach Friend responded by email, saying, “I am exceptionally proud and supportive of my remarkable wife. To be selected to manage another storied community while giving our son an opportunity to spend more time with his grandparents as they age just speaks to who she is as a person.”

He added, “Many families have carved a path for us on how to strike a balance between service and family especially when distance and two professional careers are involved. My career isn’t more important than hers and I am committed to finding the balance in actively representing my district while also travelling regularly down there to ensure I am deeply present for Tina and our son.”

In Coronado, the city manager is the administrative head of the municipal government under the direction and control of the City Council, responsible for all city operations. n

COMMUNITY NEWS Long-Time Second Harvest CEO Retiring

On July 22, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County announced CEO Willy ElliottMcCrea will retire next June.

The board of directors has started the process to hire his successor and build on his legacy.

His retirement will coincide with the food bank’s 50th anniversary, and a big shindig is planned to celebrate both.

Elliott-McCrea, 68, of Soquel, has been the Food Bank’s leader for more than 30 years, making many significant contributions during floods, fires and a global pandemic.

After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Second Harvest was ground zero for disaster relief (epicenter was five miles from the warehouse) – scaling services sixfold for the first month and doubled after.

Building a strong network of partners from every sector of the community, Second Harvest has consistently ranked in the top two percent of healthiest food banks in America, with more than 60% of food distributed being fresh fruits and vegetables.

As founding president of California Association of Food Banks from 1995-98, Elliott-McCrea shaped the future of food banks across the state.

Most recently, he led the Food Bank through COVID-19 and the devastating CZU fire. His experience led him to reach out to U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta as soon as shelter-in-place was ordered, prompting Congress and the Governor to deploy the National Guard across California food banks to keep services going.

Since the pandemic began, Second Harvest has seen need for food double — and met that need. Second Harvest worked with not only the National Guard but also County Emergency Services, Twin Lakes Church, County Fairgrounds, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, local school districts and many others to provide fresh and healthy food to the community.

As Santa Cruz County slowly recovers from the economic devastation of the pandemic and fires, the food bank is distributing 65% more food than before.

Elliott-McCrea began his food banking career in 1978 as a warehouse manager and driver. n

Willy Elliott-McCrea