Loudon County
Visitors Bureau Executive Director Clayton Pangle is
looking to step down from his position sometime within
the near future to give his undivided attention to other
endeavors he participates in to bring more tourism to
the area.
Pangle said
he turned in his 60-day notice of resignation to Loudon
County Chamber of Commerce President Michael Bobo and
Visitors Bureau Board of Directors Chairwoman Klair
Kimmey on April 30 with the plan in mind to give tourism
officials enough time to find a replacement.
“I think
we’ve made some accomplishments over those five
years, and but I’m also a person that feels strongly
that, in tourism especially, it helps to have new
ideas and new folks to carry out some of those
ideas,” he added.
Kimmey
said a five-person committee from the visitors
center board, with one being from the Chamber of
Commerce, has been assembled to begin a search for
Pangle’s replacement. The search began in May, she
said.
Pangle
said he has offered to stay past June 30 if the
position is still empty.
“I think
it’s unreasonable to think we’ll have someone by the
end of June, so definitely we would hope by ...
July,” Kimmey said.
The
deadline to turn in applications is Friday, Kimmey
said. The committee will then review responses,
begin to narrow down the search and conduct
interviews.
“The step
is we are already getting inquiries, and then so
after the 19th we will meet, the committee will
meet, we’ll review what we have,” Kimmey said. “We
will contact people and see if those people are
still interested after they hear even more
information about the position.”
Pangle
said he will miss seeing the visitors center
employees on a daily basis that, while each of them
has their own uniqueness, all of them share a common
trait in making “people feel just so welcome and at
ease when they walk in the door at the Visitors
Bureau,” he said. He said he will also miss
interacting with people from all across the world
who visit Loudon County, including some that have
come to the Lenoir City office from as far away as
Bangladesh, Russia and Australia.
“I’ve had
the opportunity to work with a great board of
directors,” Pangle said. “Our board has changed over
the years. It’s always been a great board to face in
different ages of the Visitors Bureau, different
challenges and problems, and we’ve managed to
continue to grow through a little over 25 years of
being in existence. I think we’ve done it during the
last five years as well, and I think we’re going to
see more tourism growth in the future.”
Pangle
said he believes he is leaving the visitors center
in good financial shape. Over the past five years,
he has overseen an annual increase of about 8
percent in the year-end reserve balance, he said.
“In my
opinion, he turned us around,” Kimmey said. “He got
us back on firm ground. He is so familiar with our
county that he had a great vision for the Visitors
Bureau and has — he’s really turned it around.”
Plans on
horizon
With his
tenure nearing its closure, Pangle said he had
projects lined up to still help play a part in
bringing tourism into the county. He also hopes to
continue his service as a member of the East
Tennessee Regional Leadership Organization, an
attorney for Southeastern Title Company and a member
with “several regional boards.”
Three
projects, two of which haven’t come to fruition yet,
will have Pangle serving as a facilitator. One
project includes a seashell museum in the city of
Loudon, he said. Located in the old
10,000-square-foot Loudon High School off Commerce
Street, the building will be used to house local Dr.
Pete Stimpson’s collection of seashells. A time
cannot be revealed as to when the museum will open,
he said.
“Dr. Pete
Stimpson has one of the largest privately held shell
collections in the world,” Pangle said. “His
collection will be moved to that particular building
for purposes of educating kids of all ages. In that
particular field of endeavor, he’s recognized
worldwide as an expert in seashells.”
Pangle
said he and others have shared an interest to make
the museum a reality for about 15 years. He said the
other two projects on which Pangle will serve as a
facilitator are too early in the planning stages to
divulge, but he said one could assist downtown
Lenoir City as a “historical type attraction.” The
third project is more of a long-term plan for the
county.
“Sometimes projects are undertaken and people react
and say, ‘Gosh, that was a really overnight
success’,” Pangle said. “But the truth is most
projects take a long, long time, and all of them
that are pursued are not necessarily successful. You
have to have a willingness to try to look forward to
things, and if it seems promising, give it a shot
and find out whether it can become a reality or
not.”