Mary has spent her entire life working to help others. Starting in her young years in 4-H working with other young learners/leaders across the county, state and country, she was focused on creating community and gathering people into productive programs and projects. Always drawn to serving others and creating, Hodson brings her unique sense of reclamation of community, and empowerment of people to individual situations. With deep connections to rural communities, Hodson digs into the heart of each community’s needs and dreams. Reality- based solutions bring about action items, creating opportunities for any rural community to elevate tourism through aesthetics, amenities, art, collaboration, and downtown improvements.
Mary led the Hutchinson Area Chamber and Tourism for twelve years, creating programs and opportunities for residents like the award-winning pARTicipant Hutchinson: a community mural project, which brought 20 plus murals to the community, painted by community members, not paid artists. Creating pride of place for residents and tourism opportunities in a rural community requires collaboration, engagement, and commitments from many people and organizations in the community. This project brought people together from different social, economic and political backgrounds, and murals were added to private and public buildings. She also collaborated with public entities, private businesses and other organizations, to create the Hutchinson Child Care Coalition started from the growing need for affordable childcare in the area. The coalition was developed to support childcare providers through education, emotional well-being, and resources for financial and business success.
With the growing interest in leadership development, Hodson led the expansion team for the Hutchinson Leadership Institute and the addition of Leadership 2.0, an in-depth personal journey of “lead yourself to know yourself.” The launch of 2.0 allowed businesses to build leaders from within their community and help people recognize their inherent opportunities for personal development. During her chamber tenure, she was also recognized for her work in tourism marketing campaigns, agriculture awareness education, and TigerPath, the public school’s career exploration program. Later in her chamber career, she was awarded the Star of the North award for creative leadership through several projects and programs for the community. She believes aligning any organization’s mission with their plan of work is a courageous and important exercise to bring about clarity and excellence. Hodson instinctively inspires others to see community vision and to naturally draw in others wanting to be part of the movement.
Most recently, Mary became a Business Advisor for Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Businesses- Midwest Region. The hybrid program offers a practical business education curriculum, delivered in partnership with community colleges, and focuses on helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses and create jobs across the country. She is also the Entrepreneur and Business Mentor for the 17-Mile Economic Corridor for Winthrop, Gibbon, and Fairfax, MN; providing guidance, support and resources for the area’s business community. This position was a collaborative project with creative funding, leveraging grant dollars and each community’s needs. Now, she brings all these experiences to Community Economic Partners helping communities work together, collaboratively, to create economic development strategies through tourism and placemaking. She believes a community can make any initiative happen, if they are willing to work collaboratively!
Education
- Associate of Arts, Art Degree, Southeastern Iowa 1999
- Madison Institute for Healthcare Philanthropy 2010-2011
- Institute for Organizational Management, 2017
- Giant Worldwide Personal Development Trainings- ongoing
Recognition
- Star of the North awarded by the MN Chamber of Commerce Executives 2024
- Author of “Goodnight Hutchinson” and “Good Morning, Hutchinson.” 2020 & 2024 with the profits going to the Chamber of Commerce Foundation supporting business education for adults and youth
- Honorary Commodore, Hutchinson Water Carnival 2022
- FFA Honorary Member- 2017