Peggy Myers-Smith will retire as President/CEO of the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) effective Sept. 30, 2016. Myers-Smith served nine years in the position.
During her time with the GMCVB, Myers-Smith was instrumental in developing relationships on both the state and national levels to promote tourism in Monongalia and Preston counties. She worked closely with community partners to identify new opportunities to enhance tourism and travel to the area.
Myers-Smith also developed outreach and communications initiatives to increase the visibility of the GMCVB. The organization received several awards from the West Virginia Division of Tourism in recognition of those efforts, including Star of the Industry awards for Best Social Media, Best Overall Marketing Campaign and Best Website, along with an International Davey Award for Overall Marketing Campaign, a Communicator Award for Marketing Campaign and the Web Marketing Association Leisure Standard of Excellence Award for Website Design.
“Peggy has been a wonderful steward of the CVB and the Greater Morgantown area. We appreciate her service and commitment to the mission of the organization and, on behalf of our entire board, we wish her the very best in her retirement,” said Tara Curtis, Chair, GMCVB Board of Directors.
Myers-Smith was appointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to serve on the West Virginia Tourism Commission in 2014. She has been a member of the West Virginia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, serving as the president (2015-2016). She was appointed to the inaugural Morgantown Sister Cities Commission in 2008 and represented Morgantown at an International Festival of Sister Cities in Guanajuato, Mexico in 2009.
She also coordinated the visit to Morgantown by a delegation of government officials and University of Guanajuato representatives.
Myers-Smith gained a Tourism Marketing Professional Certification from the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) in 2010. She served as the West Virginia Vice Chair of STS from 2011-2015 and currently serves on the STS Advocacy Committee. In her role with the GMCVB, Myers-Smith served as a member of the Cities of the Big 12 Convention and Visitors Bureaus, where she worked with other tourism professionals to provide hospitality and resources to the Big 12 schools, fans and other visitors.
“My time with the Greater Morgantown CVB has been so rewarding. I have enjoyed being a tourism ambassador for Monongalia and Preston counties, as well as the state of West Virginia, and I am looking forward to experiencing the other side of tourism and spending more time as the tourist and traveling,” stated Myers-Smith.
Throughout her time with the GMCVB, Myers-Smith has served on numerous boards, including the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, Mylan Park Foundation, Main Street Morgantown, Sundale Rehabilitation Long Term Care and the Morgantown Airport Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Business and Economics Hospitality Program and has been a guest lecturer for the WVU Business and Economics Marketing and Hospitality classes.
Before joining the GMCVB, Myers-Smith was the West Virginia Director of the Children’s Miracle Network and Manager of Development Programs for WVU Children’s Hospital.
A retirement reception will be held for Myers-Smith on Thursday, Oct. 6 from 5-7 p.m. at the GMCVB offices located on Chaplin Hill Road, Morgantown. For more information, contact the GMCVB at 304-292-5081.
