Target Alpena welcomes Thomson
Recruitment, retention, and expansion are his focus
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ALPENA -- The new Target Alpena Executive Director Andrew Thomson, an Alpena native and previous community leader in Chelsea, said his focus for Alpena are three pillars: recruitment, retention, and expansion.
"Recruiting folks to our area, whether it be businesses, whether it be developers keeping the folks that have successful businesses in our area, not letting them leave for other communities or other parts of the state," Thomson explained. "Expansion, people that are here, how do we help them grow? That can be both on the business side, that can be on the development, the housing side. If we’ve got great projects, how do we expand those? How do we keep it rolling?"
Thomson was born and raised in Alpena but has lived the last two decades in the lower part of the Mitten. He said he went through a rigorous interview process to assume his role as the new executive director for Target.
"When this opportunity came up to apply for the position and interview for it, it felt like the right time to come back home and try and make a difference in my own community, the town that raised me," he said. "Went through the whole interview process, a very robust interview process."
Thomson said that in his job as executive director, he serves an important role, guiding Alpena into its future. He explained that as he takes over the reins of the organization, he hopes to continue the work that Target has already accomplished.
"This is an important piece of work for the community and for the region," Thomson said. "What Target has done and what we hope to continue doing for the future is going to benefit everybody who lives here. In the city, the township, the county of Alpena, and even the broader region."
Tuesday was Thomson's second day on the job and he said the next few weeks are going to be a period of acclimation to the area and community partners.
"For the first several weeks, a couple months here, it’s going to be just getting to know everyone," he said. "It’s going to be those face-to-face meetings, hearing stories from everyone, whether it be the government officials that we’re working with, whether it be business leaders, and just community members. Engaging everybody out there that wants to be engaged ... 'What do you like, what we’ve been doing?' 'What do you feel like we need to do differently?'"
Looking ahead, he believes that challenges ahead of him are competing with the lack of resources and playing "catch up" regarding development in the area. He noted that it is important that community members keep in mind that development often takes time and support that the area sometimes lacks.
"In Alpena, we feel like we’re isolated. We feel like we are underserved, whether that be from Lansing or any other agency," he explained. "We feel like we’re always kind of playing catch up ... Whether it’s real or whether it’s imagined, we have those barriers to success, and we have to get over those ... attacking that feeling of isolation. That is where the recruitment part comes in. Tell our story."
Thomson explained that he believes that the Alpena community views development differently, in that it moves too slow. However, he added that dealing with the rate of progress is just the nature of the beast and Alpena needs to work towards leveraging the resources it has at its doorsteps.
"It almost feels like in Alpena ... it’s the same everywhere ... but it feels to us, like it moves even slower because you simply have to put the pieces together, you’ve got to get the right, whether it’s leadership and business partners, linked together, and just getting the resources," he added. "We do have scarce resources and so we’ve got to be as smart as possible as we can with those resources."
Overall, Thomson said that he's excited to get rolling, to meet the community partners, and to get enmeshed into the community, working towards new goals for Alpena and the broader Northeast Michigan region.
Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.