by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
Diann Bayes has been involved in delivering strong results in tourism for more than 30 years. Again, as with all of our professionals, she has had a varied career, starting as the Executive Director of a combined Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau in a small town in Texas. From there, after serving as the Executive Director of the McKinney Convention and Visitors Bureau, she served for four years as the SVP of Member Services and Development for the Texas Travel Alliance, a 700+ member organization where she assisted with program development of the Texas Travel and Tourism College and Rural Tourism Workshops. More recently, Diann served as Vice President of Discover San Angelo and President of Visit Tyler, where she oversaw Visitor Center operations.
Education
- Associate of Arts, Tyler Junior College
- Bachelor of Arts, Sam Houston State University
Memberships, Certifications, Recognition
- Certified Tourism Executive
- Texas Destination Marketer
- Member: Texas Travel Alliance Board
- Former Member: Texas Travel Alliance Executive Committee, Legislative Affairs Co-Chair
- Member: Tyler Junior College Alumni Board
- Former Member: Tyler Sister Cities Board
- Former Member: Texas Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau Board
- Former Member: Texas Forts Trails Region Board
- Former Member: Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council Board
- Former Member: Texas Lakes Trail Region Board
- Gene Phillips Hospitality Award – Texas Department of Transportation Travel Division
- Texas Highways Magazine – Friendliest Tour Guides in Texas Award
- Member: Sisters on the Fly
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
Like so many of the Community Economic Partners team, Erik has had a multi-dimensional career that has included an economic growth corporation, Chamber of Commerce, business financial services, Main Street, and local initiatives support. Throughout his career, he has partnered with communities and organizations to design and implement practical, results-driven strategies that spark economic activity and enhance quality of life. His work integrates strategic planning, market analysis, community engagement, and destination marketing to create clear paths toward revitalization and long-term sustainability.
As the Director of Illinois Main Street, Erik helped coordinate statewide efforts to support Main Street communities through networking, educational, and programmatic activities. Working with Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in Peoria, he advanced neighborhood redevelopment and small business initiatives across central Illinois. He has helped attract millions of dollars in public and private investment, launched entrepreneurship programs, and developed commerce-driven event strategies that drive measurable results. In fall 2016, Erik partnered with 353 Court to complete a Real Estate Report for the City of Havana and was subsequently retained for implementation of the strategy that included building stabilization, small business assistance, and creative placemaking. The results included $2,500,000 investment into downtown real estate, 14 new businesses opening, and a two-block streetscape restructuring.
Education
- Bachelor of Business, Western Illinois University
- International Business and Marketing, Noordelijke Hogeschool Leeuwarden
Memberships, Certifications, Recognition
- Muscatine Community Improvement Action Team
- City of Rock Island Arts Advisory Committee
- City of Pekin Planning Commission
- City of Pekin Zoning Board of Approvals
- Co-Founder/President Bike Peoria
- Board Member: Start Up Peoria
- Board Member: Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation
- Board Member: Pekin Main Street
- Impact HUB Peoria Leadership Team
- Pekin Chamber of Commerce
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
Deb Brown, who serves as Chief Success Officer for Community Economic Partners/National Travel Center and participates in engagements, has a long and varied career that has taken her from a small town in Iowa to a leading, well-known professional role who has helped countless communities succeed. As a result of work in nearly 80 small towns and cities, and rural communities across the country, Deb has become one of the best “on the ground” engagement communicators there is.
During site visits, working with municipal officials and leading conversations with the diverse collection of officials and residents who make up communities, she works to really hear and understand their needs, aspirations, challenges, and desires as the starting point for any plan. On-the-ground immersion visits are conducted to capture the essence of the place through images and videos and to identify opportunities to advance the economy. Deb knows firsthand the power of transforming small towns into thriving communities from on-the-ground experience, having served as the Director of a Chamber of Commerce in a community where, after a large manufacturer closed and moved, 2,000 people in a town of 8,000 were out of work. She also served as tourism director in another small town. Deb expanded her skills in bringing towns to greater economic prosperity through a Tour of Empty Buildings, where interested individuals, developers, and others walk through empty buildings to lease or sell them as efficiently as possible.
She has also spearheaded numerous programs that empower small businesses, elevate customer service, revolutionize marketing strategies, and drive economic development. Deb is the cofounder of SaveYour.Town and has been serving rural communities for over ten years, including keynoting at national and local conferences and visiting small towns for onsite work with leaders. She is well recognized as a rural specialist online and often contributes to publications, articles, panels, and more. She is currently teaching business retention and expansion in a summer program at the University of Alabama.
Education
- History Studies, Luther College and Iowa State University
- Four-Year Institute of Organizational Management (IOM) Program, US Department of Commerce
- Landmark Education Leadership Courses, Ongoing
Memberships, Recognition
- Leadership Iowa
- Ag Urban Institute Agricultural Development and Community Leadership
- Rural Advisory Team, International Economic Development Corporation
- Board Member and Officer, MS City Civic Organization
- Board Member and Officer, Legacy Learning Boone River Valley
- Targeted Certified Business, Iowa
- Structured Support for the Guard and Reserve Hero2Hired Program
- Advisory Board Member, Iowa Central Community College
- Board Member and Officer, Help Entertain and Restore (HERO)
Publications
- From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Small Town Workbook
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
Dr. Maree Forbes Gaughan, who leads each project that of Community Economic Partners/National Travel Center is engaged in, is CEO of the nationally recognized organizations dedicated to helping small cities and towns, and rural communities thrive. Through her leadership, communities across the country have strengthened their economies, enhanced their sense of place, and built sustainable futures rooted in their unique assets.
With a Doctorate in Planning, Master of Art and Architectural History and Historic Preservation, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and an MBA, Maree brings a rare blend of academic insight and real-world experience to her work. Maree’s professional journey began in architecture, where she spent 12 years developing a strong foundation in design and the built environment, concentrated in historic preservation projects. Recruited right out of graduate school by The World Bank, the Development Bank in Washington, D.C., provided the opportunity to learn economic development firsthand. A career change to tourism decades ago, further expanded her expertise.
Today, she draws on that multidisciplinary background to guide communities through strategic planning, economic development, community engagement, destination development, tourism, placemaking, and townscaping, helping them turn visions into lasting impact. Even though Dr. Forbes Gaughan now has a comprehensive and award-winning command of several fields, she has never wavered from the concept that strategies, actions, and recommendations must be grounded in reality, and both able and appropriate to be implemented within the unique fabric of any community.
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fine Art, Summa Cum Laude, University of Wisconsin
Master of Arts, Art and Architectural History/Historic Preservation Summa Cum Laude, University of Wisconsin
MBA, Taft University
Doctor of Philosophy, Planning, The Union
Updated Expertise and Certificates
Development Economics, Columbia University
Narrative Economics, Yale University
Strategic Planning for Public and Non-Profit Organizations, Wiley
Sustainable Cities: Planning, Neighborhoods, and Transportation, Johns Hopkins University
Sustainable Cities and Communities, Lund University
Leading Sustainable Community Transformation, University of Colorado-Boulder
Public Policy, University of Michigan
Arts and Heritage Management, University of Bocconi
Management of Successful Arts and Cultural Organizations, University of Maryland
Sustainable Farming, University of Western Australia
US Food System, Johns Hopkins University
Overview of the US Healthcare Industry, Northeastern University
Introduction to American Law, University of Pennsylvania
Introduction to Non-Profit Law, University of Pennsylvania
Marketing in a Digital, University of Illinois
Sustainable Tourism, University of Copenhagen
Responses to Climate Change, University of Colorado-Boulder
Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Memberships, Certifications, Recognition, Credentials
Professor of Destination Management and Marketing, Temple University Masters in Travel and Tourism
Certified Sustainable Tourism Professional
Member, International Economic Development Council
Lifetime Certified Professional Member: Buildings Owners and Managers Association International
Former Fellow: International Facility Management Association
Former Associate Member: American Institute of Architects
Former Member: Intelligent Buildings Institute
Former Professionally Certified Member: Construction Specifications Institute
Former Board Member: Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International
Certified Sustainable Tourism Professional: Global Sustainable Tourism Council
Former Federal Highway Administration Scenic Byway Expert Consultant
Certified Online Teaching Professional, Temple University
Adjunct Faculty, University of Tennessee, Aesthetics for Engineers
Chester County Pennsylvania Commissioners, Historic Preservation Award
Publications
Business Owners and Managers Certification Coursework, 5 Volumes, 1,500 pages
Masterspec Interiors, American Institute of Architects, 5 Volumes, 1,000 pages
Johnson Controls/Pan Am World Services Training Manual
Creating Customers: Marketing to Today’s Transforming Travelers, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association
International
Travel. Tourism. Hospitality: Resources for the New Millennium, 404-page manual illustrating the past, present and
future of each industry segment
Tourism: Economic Development for Any Size Community, 490-page road map to develop tourism
