Debra Brown has spent her entire varied career helping communities and organizations be more successful. She is able to define where the community or organization is when she first interacts with them and works together, creating an action plan to help communities and organizations even in the direst circumstances to move ahead toward success. Those skills have taken her across America and overseas, where her expertise has been welcomed in places where success appears to be out of reach. Working with Deb, the places begin moving forward, at first taking small steps to anchor the effort in the community and then forging ahead to make progress in the community as a whole. Even though she has worked in communities of many sizes, Deb’s heart lies with smaller towns and rural communities where economic development and greater economic success are critical for a community to begin thriving again.
After leaving college and rural Iowa for Chicago, she applied her ability to stay organized and execute administrative skills in a series of jobs with increasing responsibilities. In positions such as a Finance and Insurance Officer for AON, accounts receivable, audits, and underwriting skills for AIG, that still enabled her to successfully manage several projects at once. Deb never misses a beat when an action needs to occur, or a client requires attention. Next she gained command of skills in retail, serving as a manager for a multi-store retailer, and was introduced to tourism selling to people who were traveling and wanted the best products to enhance their experiences. Deb polished more retail skills as the manager of one of the first internet cafes in Chicago. She also shined in direct sales of a high-end product which took her throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. After moving back to Iowa, her work as the Director of a Chamber of Commerce began by serving as a volunteer at another Chamber of Commerce! That job also required that Deb learn the ropes of tourism.
When the job of an Executive Director of a Chamber of Commerce opened up in a neighboring town, the collective skills she had acquired led to Deb being hired immediately. In that job, she implemented many of the ideas that work for today’s communities. Overseeing the complete responsibilities of the Chamber, Deb planned and organized new services for members, engaged in planning and implementing an ongoing series of events, hired and trained staff, and managed day-to day-operations. She implemented a Tour of Empty Buildings that led to 10 of 12 buildings being filled within 18 months, started a 501c3 to save the local theater, ultimately raising $250,000 to do so. Chamber membership increased by over 60% and a newly created event, JunqueFest, brought 5,000 people into town on a weekend. When the largest television station in Iowa came to town to spend the day, 3,000 area residents showed up as well. Those successes resulted partially from Deb getting command of digital and social media marketing, another skill that has also taken her to new heights. She learned to use a website as an online tool to manage operations and promotion, increased Facebook interaction by 58%, expanded organic reach by 79%, and achieved a newsletter open rate of 41%!
Ms. Brown now brings all of this experience, expertise, and success to communities across the nation. She has worked on substantive efforts in 41 different counties, located in 14 different states and many small rural towns as well. She developed a cohort experience around creating a “Tour of Empty Buildings” Event, and often speaks to local, statewide and national conferences. Deb’s week-long community visits help to thoroughly explore the assets and resources of a region and engage with the community, and everything in between. Deb gets the conversations moving and past the “nothing will work here” or “we’ve already tried everything” stage and on to productive action.
Her comprehensive knowledge of businesses, communities, and organizations, how they work, and how they can improve their circumstances, led Deb to Co-Found SaveYour.Town ten years ago. It is a business that works directly with rural communities to improve their economic prospects. That work has made her a recognized rural expert and one that CEP greatly celebrates. Over the years, Ms. Brown has made over 60 presentations to a very wide span of organizations and conferences and has made onsite visits to communities ranging from Ritzville, Washington, Estherville, Iowa, and Bennettsville, South Carolina, to the five-county region supported by the Missouri Council of Governments, a two-year project to five counties in Montana and Shawnee, Oklahoma.
In addition, she has participated in more than 40 webinars and virtual events, a series of radio interviews, been featured on more than 20 podcasts, been involved in a series of educational efforts where she shared her collective knowledge on a more formalized basis. Much of this knowledge has now been put into a book: From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Town with these Uniquely Do-able Ideas, Projects, and Success Stories, and she will serve as a Co-Author of the next book published by Community Economic Partners focusing on economic development. Deb’s position as Chief Success Officer enables her to bring her practical, action-focused approach to each project that we are involved in, including such varied assignments such as the Nevada Virginia City National Landmark District and a project in Leland, North Carolina. When we began working on this project, Leland had been struggling with a unique identification for the town for more than a decade. Deb also continues to contribute directly to the success of the organization itself and the clients who count on us to help them.
Education
- Luther College, History
- Institute of Organizational Development, US Department of Commerce, Equivalent of MBA
- Landmark Education Leadership Courses, Ongoing
- Technology Education: Microsoft Office Suite, WordPress Website Development, Google Applications, Comprehensive Social Media Training, Canva Certification
Professional Development
- Crowdfund Better Certification
- Leadership Iowa
- Ag Urban Institute Agricultural Development and Community Leadership
Publications
- From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Small Town
- Weekly Newsletter at SaveYour.Town
- Articles on medium.com and LinkedIn.com
Recognition
- Rural Advisory Team, International Economic Development Corporation
- Board Member and Officer, MS City Civic Organization
- Board Member and Officer, Legacy Learning Boone River Valley
- Targeted Certified Business Instructor, Iowa
- Structured Support for the Guard and Reserve Hero2Hired Program
- Advisory Board Member, Iowa Central Community College
- Board Member and Officer, Help Entertain and Restore (HERO)