Leader 'in waiting' chosen for Tuscaloosa tourism group
Tuscaloosa’s visitor and sports tourism recruiting group will have a new leader next year.
Kelsey Rush, the current vice president of marketing and communications for Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports, has been named the organization’s president and CEO in waiting.
She will assume her new role in July 2023 after the retirement of current president and CEO Don Staley, who announced his impending departure earlier this year.
“As I transition out of my role as president and CEO at TTS, it’s my belief that Kelsey and the board will execute our succession plan and the organization will achieve new heights under her leadership and vision to become one of the top destination marketing organizations in the region,” said Staley in a news release announcing Rush’s future position. “TTS’ brightest and most innovative days are ahead and I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a different way.”
More: Tuscaloosa tourism director plans to stay through end of contract
And when Rush does officially take the reins, it will make her the third woman to helm the area's tourism and sports recruitment efforts since the organization's founding in 2010.
"I am beyond excited and honored to have this opportunity to serve my community in this way," Rush said. "Tuscaloosa became my home over a decade ago, and it’s a privilege to represent a place that truly is great to live, work, play and visit.
"Our team is passionate about telling our community’s story, and I look forward to working alongside them as we continue moving in the positive direction that Don set us on."
Announcing Staley’s successor lends some transition stability to the organization, which in the past has had to move quickly to find a replacement at its top position.
Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports officially began in 2010, when the Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitors Bureau merged with the Tuscaloosa Sports Foundation. The sports foundation began in 2005 as a means to lure state high school basketball championships back to Tuscaloosa, but later expanded its scope when the founders realized there was potential for a larger organization with greater goals.
Staley served then as the interim CEO of the combined organization after the resignation of Robert Ratliff, who had led the Convention and Visitors Bureau through the merger. Staley was replaced in February 2012 by Susan West, who was chosen over 27 applicants as the first full-time president and CEO of Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports by a unanimous vote of the commission's board of directors.
Her tenure lasted through February 2014 when she unexpectedly departed in what the commission's board of directors characterized as a resignation. West was replaced two days later by Gina Simpson via another unanimous vote of the board.
Simpson led the tourism group’s efforts for three years until she announced in March 2017 that she was stepping away to spend more time with family.
“I love making a difference in my community, but I love my family more,” Simpson said at the time.
This led to the return of Staley, who in 2014 had been lured to south Alabama to become executive director of the Foley Sports Tourism complex, a $32 million, 91,000 square-foot venue. Staley helped begin and organize the Foley Sports Tourism complex, which has since become a national draw for the city 9 miles outside of Gulf Shores.
In 2017, TTS brought Staley back as president and CEO and in June 2020, the TTS board voted to extend his contract another three years, until July 2023.
Staley announced in March that he intended to retire to Lake County, Florida upon the completion of his TTS contract.
"I've been away from my family since high school," he said. "I actually have a chance for this next period of my life to reconnect with my brothers, so that part is exciting."
Now comes Rush, who began her career with TTS in 2010, working as sports sales marketing representative and director of event operations, before departing in 2015.
She returned to TTS in April 2021 after serving as vice president of marketing and communications for Bryant Bank, which grew from the seventh-largest bank in Alabama to the fourth in 2021, based on asset size, during her time with the company.
While in Tuscaloosa, she also has taken on an active volunteerism role in the community, currently on the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama’s executive committee as the vice chair for marketing and communications and, in 2020, she earned the highest honor bestowed by the chamber, the Charles H. Land Member of the Year.
Her experience ranges from strategic marketing and communications, brand management, business development, community relations, sales and fundraising, event management and media buying, which helped the TTS board in choosing her as Staley’s successor.
“Kelsey has gained experience at every turn in her career as a marketing vice president for a large corporation as well as working directly in the tourism and nonprofit industry,” said Max Karrh, TTS vice chair and a senior vice president at Bryant Bank. “She brings the experience necessary to move TTS – a destination marketing organization – forward in the trajectory that Don Staley has the organization heading now.
“The board of directors is proud of the TTS team and its success in creating tourism opportunities for West Alabama.”
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Leader 'in waiting' chosen for Tuscaloosa tourism group
