BCTF seeks new director as Sneider is retiring from post

Talk about it

When she started at the newly formed Buffalo City Tourism Foundation in March of 2004, Nina Sneider didn’t even have a paperclip, let alone a desk to work with.

Since then, the BCTF executive director has seen millions of visitors and millions of dollars come into Jamestown. Come March the BCTF will be under new leadership and Sneider will retire.

“I don’t have a family here and I missed a lot with my family, so my plans are to relocate by the grandchildren,” Sneider said.

She will move to Minnesota to be closer to her five grandchildren. Another reason she said she wants to move on is that she did what she set out to do in Jamestown.

“Personally, I’ve completed what I aimed to in this position and I think there comes a time when you need new blood, new ideas and new people,” Sneider said.

Sneider took the helm for BCTF as executive director when the foundation was formed. Since then her favorite part has been meeting the people who travel through Jamestown.

Thousands visit Jamestown each summer from across the U.S. and beyond. Most recent summers have seen visitors from all 50 states.

“In the summer, working with the visitors,” she said of her favorite part of the job. “They’re in good moods, they’re on vacation and they love to talk about where they’re from.”

She has also enjoyed helping visitors who come to town, whether it be a phone call, or helping them find a mechanic to fix a vehicle.

In Minnesota, Sneider hopes to find a job where she can visit with travelers as she has done for years in Jamestown — preferably part time and at a hotel.

The executive director credits the volunteers on the Buffalo City Tourism Foundation for putting in many hours and working to award grants to programs that have improved tourism in Jamestown.

“You can’t do anything without volunteers,” she said.

Dave Smette, BCTF president, said the search to replace Sneider has begun. The work she has done has been well received.

“I think she’s done just a marvelous job,” Smette said. “The board members are volunteers and so on, but she’s been the sparkplug, the person who’s gotten it going, taken a look at things ... knew how to get things done, and I think it’s really shown in the work she’s done in bringing people to town.”

The job opening will be posted in North and South Dakota and Minnesota. Smette said he hopes to have a replacement hired by December or January so Sneider can train the new hire.

“We got the advertisements out there and will be taking a look at what kind of candidates come in, and going through the résumés and setting up interviews with the people we want to interview,” he said.

He said the ideal candidate will be forward thinking with an ability to get to know the community fast and work with other groups involved in tourism.

“Somebody that does have initiative like Nina had,” Smette said. “If we could clone her, that’d be great.”

Sneider said she enjoyed watching events grow, like the James River Rodeo. Her replacement will need to have long-term thinking abilities as well.

“For me it’s been a real treat to watch some of the ideas we (BCTF) have funded grow from a creative idea into something that brings hundreds, if not thousands to Jamestown,” she said.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by email at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, tourism