by John Dowd
The Hamilton Downtown Association (HDA) just underwent some changes, primarily taking on a new executive director. Matthew Zwicker started April 8, and says in his time with HDA so far, “there have been so many people here that have incredible energy!”
Zwicker is now the executive director of the Hamilton Downtown Association (HDA) and the Hamilton Downtown Foundation, and he works in partnership with the City of Hamilton and the Downtown Hamilton Business Improvement District (DHBID). He is taking the seat over from the previous executive director, Robin Pruitt. However, his position will now combine the responsibilities of both Pruitt’s position and the previous executive assistant position held by Susan Wetzsteon.
Matthew Zwicker, new Executive Director of HDA. Photo courtesy HDA.
According to Zwicker, they did this in order to help facilitate future growth of the organization. He also said, his predecessor, Pruitt, “built this ship up to sail with such a positive momentum,” and, “I’m excited.”
Before joining the HDA, Zwicker was Head of School at a couple of nonprofit private schools. These included Hamilton Christian Academy, in Hamilton, and Foothills Community Christian School, in Great Falls. “I love education so incredibly much,” said Zwicker. He also spent time in Finland and organized conferences and events there for educational entities.
Throughout his time with those projects and entities, he gained a lot of experience in non-profit administration and event management. Zwicker said he brings with him a passion for strategic planning and “deep dives into the purpose, vision and drive of an organization.” He also helped those above mentioned private schools through their accreditation process.
Zwicker hopes to use this expertise to help organizations grow and address their budgets to “move forward into the future with confidence and clarity.”
Zwicker said that the Downtown Master Plan, which was a forward thinking projection and step-by-step guide, conceived as part of Hamilton City’s 2008 Growth Policy Update. According to Zwicker, the HDA is the administrator
of that plan, and the goal of it was to make overall improvements to the economy and community of Hamilton.
Zwicker said, moving forward, the HDA is working to grow their events, to make them bigger and more popular than ever. They also want to continue to work to preserve the historic essence of the downtown, while improving it for the community and local businesses and to offer more opportunities to businesses, overall. These are all elements outlined in the Downtown Master Plan, along with work to grow community involvement over the next few years, both in the HDA and with the foundation. Essentially, Zwicker said, they want to “expand what we do for and in the community.” All of this can be read in the Downtown Master Plan, which is available online on the City of Hamilton website.
On the personal side of it, Zwicker said, for him, being back in the Bitterroot Valley is a dream come true. He grew up in the area and loves what he will be doing. “I love this valley, I love the people in this valley!” He graduated from Corvallis High School, and grew up watching the community grow and develop. “This valley is so good for raising kids and raising families,” said Zwicker.
He attended a lot of events as a youth in the area and said for a kid, they don’t know who puts on the events, but they grow up knowing that the identity of an area is often tied to those events that make it special. Looking back at that past, he said it is moving for him to be a part of the organization that created those events he enjoyed as a youth.
Zwicker wanted to highlight their upcoming event, “Rhythm and Roam,” which will be on June 28. This will be their new summer event, and is essentially a revitalized Daly Days. It will feature all the classic Daly Days events, including wiener dog races and the sidewalk chalk art competition, but will also feature bands that will play all day.
More information about the HDA, and their upcoming events, can be found on their website, visithamiltonmt.org.