This month Visit Duluth's new Executive Director Haley Hedstrom joined me in the PACT TV studio to discuss her vision for destination marketing, her past experiences as Executive Director of the Lake Superior Zoo, and what she loves most about Duluth

This month, I sit down with Chris Owen. Chris is a renowned tattoo artist and owner of Living Art Duluth. We cover a variety of topics from studying art in Utah to ancient medicinal practices and the emerging cannabis industry in Minnesota.

This month, I sit down with Russ Salgy, Agency Director of Valley Youth Center. We talk about growing up in Upper Denfeld- folks that is a core Duluthian geography reference! We also chat the legendary Ivin Club Table Tennis Team, and their recent merger with Northwoods Children's Services, and the resulting expansion in youth assets and programming as well as additional staff support and training.

During the final prep weeks for the 49th Annual Grandma's Marathon weekend, I sat down with Executive Director Shane Bauer to talk about this signature Duluth event, its economic impact on the region, and his outstanding volunteer network. We also talk about his path to this job and what motivated him to become a Duluthian.

In this first episode I had a great chat with our new City Administrator, Matt Staehling. You get a chance to learn more about Matt, and what drew him to this role after nearly 30 years in St. Cloud. We talk about his first weeks on the job and his first takes as a new Duluthian. We also dive into that all-important topic: the difference between the roles of Mayor and City Administrator.

Breanna’s your Community Relations Officer, which is great for you considering how amazing she is. She kind of does a little of everything, and it would be impossible to fit it all into one episode. At any rate, we hope you enjoy!

Sustainability. Turns out, not a new concept. Also turns out, it means a lot more than we thought. Maybe you knew that, maybe not. Either way, Mindy Granley is wicked smart and we hope you enjoy!

Workforce Development – ever heard of it? No seriously, have you? Because Elena’s here to tell you all about it and you won’t want to miss what she has to say. Elena’s work is incredibly important and touches just about everything. We hope you enjoy!

We sat down with the Director of Properties, Parks, and Libraries Jim Filby Williams. For better or worse, this episode is nothing like the TV show Parks and Recreation, and Jim isn’t much like Ron Swanson (other than his deep love and connection to the outdoors). His department does some pretty incredible things that even involve fire trucks?! We hope you enjoy!

We told you last month that we have public safety on our minds, so we recently sat down with Chief Shawn Krizaj to learn about the Duluth Fire Department. Spoiler alert: the Fire Department does some pretty important stuff, and it’s not every day you get to hear directly from the Fire Chief or Police Chief about what they do, who they are as a person, or even what their favorite local food is. Also, we ask if we could have recorded this episode from a boat. Could we have? Probably not. Should we have? Definitely not. Either way, we hope you enjoy!