Mariah Montgomery was sworn in Tuesday night as the new director of Main Street Enterprise.
Montgomery becomes only the second person to serve in the full-time position. She takes the reins from Cassidi Kendrick, who served as director from November 2019 until her resignation in November 2021 to take another Main Street directorship in Tybee Island, GA.
The program was started under the leadership of Tourism Director Tammy Doerer after she led an intensive competitive campaign to seek affiliation with Main Street Alabama, which eventually led to Enterprise being named a Main Street community in June 2019.
“The Main Street Enterprise Program is excited to welcome Mariah to our team. She has been an incredible asset to the Parks and Recreation Department’s programs and events and we look forward to her bringing her knowledge and talents to our businesses and events Downtown,” said Doerer. “We congratulate Mariah on her appointment and are confident that she will be able to continue the great work already started by our previous director, and take the organization and Downtown Enterprise to the next level.
Montgomery moves into the position of executive director from Enterprise Parks and Recreation, where she served for two years as Recreation Program Coordinator. She has spearheaded the planning organization and implementation of such events in Enterprise as “Spooky in the City,” which received the 2020 Alabama Recreation and Parks Association Award for Most Innovative Program of the Year.
“We are extremely fortunate to have the benefit of Mrs. Montgomery’s experience and the familiarity that she already has with our community,” said Mayor William E. Cooper. “We welcome her on board as the new Main Street director and we have every confidence in her ability to continue this program on its successful path.”
Parks and Recreation Director Billy Powell also expressed confidence in Montgomery. “We really hate to lose her in the Recreation Department. She has done a great job managing programs, recruiting sponsorships and volunteers and developing positive relationships with people and agencies that we deal with on a daily basis, including vendors, sponsors and non-profit organizations,” Powell said. “But at the same time, we are happy for her and this new opportunity and I know she will put her skills to work in a great way for the Main Street program.”
Montgomery, a native of Topeka, Kansas, said she is thankful that she found her way to Enterprise and the Parks and Recreation Department, where she believes she found her calling.”
“I was very interested in event planning and that drew me to Parks and Recreation,” she said. “I learned so much from working with Parks and Rec, Director Powell and everyone in the department. It’s really helped prepare me for this. I am very much looking forward to the new and exciting adventures of this job.”
The Tuesday night swearing-in evolved from a first big move for the Emporia State University (Emporia, Kansas) graduate. Fort Rucker actually brought her to the Wiregrass to be near her sister’s family, who were here while Montgomery’s brother-in-law was stationed the Army Aviation Center of Excellence.
She soon met an Enterprise native, a former Enterprise High School football player and later became Mrs. Tyler Montgomery.
Montgomery said she was working remotely at home for a Troy company before landing the job at Enterprise Parks and Recreation.
“I really longed to be out in the community, serving the community in some way,” she said. “I believe its important to be a part of the community where you make your home, and I was very, very happy to get the opportunity to work with the City of Enterprise. Now, I’m even more grateful and excited to find another way of continuing to do that.”