Fayetteville officials celebrate Heifner's career

Marilyn Heifner retires after 22 years promoting Fayetteville

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Marilyn Heifner, (left) outgoing executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission, speaks Thursday with Kit Williams, Fayetteville city attorney, during a retirement party in her honor at the Fayetteville Town Center. A former mayor of the city, Heifner served 22 years as the commission’s director.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Marilyn Heifner, (left) outgoing executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission, speaks Thursday with Kit Williams, Fayetteville city attorney, during a retirement party in her honor at the Fayetteville Town Center. A former mayor of the city, Heifner served 22 years as the commission’s director.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Friends, co-workers and public officials gathered Thursday at Fayetteville Town Center to wish Marilyn Heifner, the city's first and only executive director of the Advertising and Promotion Commission, well during her retirement.

Heifner will step down from her post next month after more than 22 years promoting the city.

At A Glance

Presidential Recognition

Marilyn Heifner, outgoing executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission, was presented with a letter from former President Bill Clinton during a retirement party Thursday at the Fayetteville Town Center.

The letter read:

“Congratulations on your retirement from the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission.

Throughout your tenure as executive director, you have helped visitors and residents alike share in all that Fayetteville has to offer, and I especially appreciate your stewardship of the Clinton House Museum over the years.

I hope you’ll enjoy a wonderful celebration in recognition of your many lasting contributions to the community, and I join your family and friends in wishing you all the best for your next chapter.”

Source: Staff Report

"Marilyn was often the presence for Fayetteville," Bobby Ferrell, a former City Council member and current A&P commissioner, said at Thursday's event. "Even when she was on the city (board of directors) and mayor, she had a strong interest in public recreation and tourism and making it stronger for her community."

As executive director, Heifner has had her hand in countless events and construction projects aimed at drawing tourism to town.

She didn't come up with the idea for Bikes, Blues & BBQ, but she was tasked with planning the very first rally in 2000 as convention and visitors development director with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.

"She is a large behind-the-scenes reason that Bikes, Blues & BBQ is so successful," Joe Giles, executive director, said Thursday. "And that was from Day 1."

Heifner was also instrumental in launching the annual Lights of the Ozarks holiday light display, and she helped convert the old "White Hangar" at Drake Field into the Arkansas Air Museum in the 1980s. More recently, Heifner put together an $11.9 million bond proposal that will help pay for renovation to the Walton Arts Center and the first phase of a regional park.

"She's just been a constant promoter for the city," Bill Mitchell, former Walton Arts Center CEO, said.

Ching Mong, commission chairman, presented Heifner with a plaque recognizing her service Thursday. The plaque will be hung in the Town Center, a facility completed in July 2002 using a portion of the hotel, motel and restaurant tax the commission collects.

Heifner's years in public service haven't come without occasional strife. She pleaded no contest in March 2012 to violating the state's Freedom of Information Act. Plenty of promotions, such as an annual Jingle Bell Jog and a trolley car the commission purchased in 1994, either fizzled or never got off the ground. Heifner was mayor during the infamous incinerator debacle, which cost the city millions of dollars and had a large role to play in Fayetteville's change from a city manager to mayor-council form of government in 1992.

Heifner was able to laugh about the decades-old controversy Thursday.

"I left the mayor's office for medical reasons," she said. "The voters were sick of me."

Heifner has also been heavily involved over the years with Heritage Trails Partners, a group advocating for the Butterfield Overland Trail's designation as a national historic trail. She was the Arkansas Municipal League's first female president and a member of the city's board from 1982 to 1989.

"It was a civic responsibility I took very seriously," Heifner said Wednesday. "I've been lucky to have been able to carry on that public service through this job."

Heifner said she'll stay on through mid-February to help incoming executive director, Kym Hughes, get up to speed.

Commissioners in December selected Hughes as Heifner's replacement from a pool of more than 55 applicants. Hughes, former director of tourism and hospitality for Sandy Springs, Ga., started work in Fayetteville on Jan. 19.

"I think she'll be able to take the foundation we've laid and build on that," Heifner said. "The tourism tax will continue to grow."

NW News on 01/30/2015

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