Published: June 09, 2009 07:05 pm      

Thigpen leaving CVB

After two and a half years at the helm of the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, executive director Margaret Thigpen is stepping down.

“My husband in being transferred with his job to Mobile, Ala.,” she said Tuesday. “My last day will be June 26.”

Thigpen said she will be busy over the next few weeks.

“I’ve got several projects that I’m trying to get far enough along so that they are completed or set to be completed before my departure,” she said. “We’ve really started the momentum to pull in visitors to our area and discover what we have.”

In February, Dalton Mayor David Pennington asked the CVB and the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce to spearhead efforts to increase tourism in the greater Dalton area. Thigpen said she will update city and county officials on those efforts this week.

Thigpen started as executive director of the CVB in October 2006. She previously served as director of sales and vice president for convention sales and marketing for the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“As I get ready to leave, my job is to keep the momentum going. The staff really knows what they are doing,” she said.

The CVB, which also operates the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center, has a staff of six and an annual budget of $346,000, which comes equally from the city of Dalton and Whitfield County.

“Margaret Thigpen has been a blessing to our community and has worked tirelessly to further the efforts and execute the vision of the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau,” said CVB board chairman Michael Williams.

Pennington, who is also a member of the CVB board, said he hates to see Thigpen leave but understands.

“Margaret really had a lot of momentum going. She was doing a good job, and a lot of things we have been pushing are starting to come to fruition. But another job called for her husband,” he said.

Williams and Pennington said the CVB board will have to meet to map out a search for a new director.

But Pennington said this will provide an opportunity for local officials to look at ways to combine resources. He noted the Downtown Dalton Development Authority has been without a director since Sarah Harrison stepped down in March and both the CVB and the DDDA will move into the old freight depot on Morris Street when its renovation is finished this fall.