Cape Convention and Visitors Bureau announces new leader

A new executive director has been selected for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Brenda Newbern will begin her duties at the CVB on Jan. 18, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce announced Monday.

Newbern replaces Chuck Martin, who retires Dec. 31. Martin had been CVB director for 13 years. He is leaving to become part-time director of the Missouri Travel Council.

Newbern, a sales manager for Midamerica Hotels Corp. in Cape Girardeau, was selected from more than 30 applicants, chamber president and CEO John Mehner said.

This is not Newbern's first experience with the CVB: She worked there as group-tour manager during the late 1990s and early 2000s, according to a news release from the chamber of commerce. "She worked in that position ... and then went to work from there to Midamerica Hotels," Mehner said. "And she's been there quite a few years."

Newbern has plenty of customer-service experience to draw from in her new position. She worked in customer service and office operations at J.C. Penney Co., NARS and Procter & Gamble. Her volunteer work includes being a chamber ambassador, serving on the boards of the Cape Girardeau Area Community Foundation and the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and being a member of the United Way Community Impact Committee, the release said.

"She has tremendous knowledge of the industry," Mehner said. "... She's been in this business for a lot of years and understands it. And with all of the new things we have coming on and the current things that we continue to market and sell, she's got a great knowledge base of the industry and a tremendous working relationship with local partners."

"There are so many opportunities on the horizon for Cape Girardeau, and my mission with the CVB team is to continue fostering economic development through tourism," Newbern stated in the release. "All of my experiences have brought me to this exciting day. I am certainly prepared to join together with other community leaders and move my city to the next level."

kwebster@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3646

Pertinent address:

400 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701