New Downtown PB director looks at growth, community

“It’s a very strange time to come into a new job. No one can prepare you for how to come in to a new position during a global crisis. There’s no handbook to go through.”

Even so, Morgan McIntosh has gone into her new position as executive director of Downtown Poplar Bluff Inc. at full speed.

“I started on March 30,” said McIntosh, who noted she was “born and raised here in Poplar Bluff.”

She’s married to her high school sweetheart, Bobby McIntosh, and together they have a daughter, Stella, who’s almost 3 years old.

McIntosh is a 2010 graduate of Poplar Bluff High School and continued her education with “some college at Three Rivers.”

For the last five years, she worked at Southern Bank.

McIntosh takes over after former director Jerrica Fox left for another opportunity.

“I’m over the moon and thrilled,” McIntosh said of her new position.

Seeing downtown flourish, she said, is her top priority.

“I would love to see some new businesses come into downtown and see them grow,” McIntosh said. “Maybe we could see people who are already established add another location down here.”

The success of businesses in the downtown area, McIntosh said, also is personal for her.

“I love community involvement. I love business development … I’ll do anything I can to help these businesses or bring in new business,” she said. “Locally-owned small businesses I just love to see thrive.”

McIntosh credits Fox for moving downtown in a positive direction in the past and helping her in her transition.

“Jerrica is a good friend and has been here to help, and really, I want to continue what she has already been doing. She was incredible, so there are some big shoes to try to fill,” McIntosh said.

Successful downtown events, like the Barbecue Street Wars and Iron Horse Festival, will continue, McIntosh said.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Barbecue Street Wars event had to be canceled by its sanctioning body, the St. Louis Barbecue Society, but McIntosh is hopeful for a similar, non-sanctioned event this fall.

In the near-term, she’s been working to shore up funding for the Fourth of July fireworks demonstration and said it has gone well.

In addition, the “Iron Horse Festival is still on for the last weekend in September,” she said.

McIntosh also has plans for “a few different things I’m discussing with my board right now,” she said. “We’re not positive when or how we’re going to do them.”

One such event, she said, would be a Wine-down Downtown near the end of June, but plans still are in the works.

Between events, McIntosh is working on new beautification projects for the downtown area, including more flower beds, additional light strings across the roads and more.

She’s also planning meetings with various investors with the goal of convincing them to “purchase buildings and restore them.”

That, she said, would go a long way toward renovating downtown.

McIntosh can be reached in her city hall office at 573-712-2171.