Director Resigns From Main Street Rogers

Main Street Roger director, Kerry Jensen posed for a photo in downtown Rogers Wednesday afternoon.
Main Street Roger director, Kerry Jensen posed for a photo in downtown Rogers Wednesday afternoon.

ROGERS — Kerry Jensen, executive director of Main Street Rogers, resigned Thursday effective Nov. 15.

At A Glance (w/logo)

Jensen's Tenure

Kerry Jensen was hired as the executive director of Main Street Rogers in October 2008.

• He estimates Main Street Rogers has sponsored about 60 events during his tenure, including parades, festivals, 3rd Friday.

• Main Street Rogers has helped about 270 other sponsored events downtown, such as the Farmers Market, Pickin’ in the Park and car shows, he said.

• He said he biggest accomplishments include getting the Destination Downtown event to come to Rogers. Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas rotate the event. He is also proud he encouraged city officials and merchants to spend money for infrastructure making downtown a better place to visit, shop and dine.

Source: Staff Report

Jensen said in his resignation letter he wants to spend more time with his wife and family.

“Bobbie and I have talked about this a lot the last couple of weeks, and we thought this was the right time to resign so we can plan for 2014,” Jensen said. “I’ll be thinking about what I want to do next over the holidays. I want to take some of the stress out of my life.”

Mark McCoy, president of the Main Street board, said he didn’t see the resignation coming.

“He told me he had been thinking about resigning for some time, and that it didn’t have anything to do with the cancellation of 3rd Friday last week,” McCoy said.

The Bikes, Blues & BBQ-themed event was canceled around 9 a.m. Friday because of rain. The rain stopped by early afternoon. Some downtown merchants and others who were upset with the cancellation, McCoy said.

Hiring a executive director will be a challenge, McCoy said. Main Street Arkansas has to be involved in the process.

“It’s going be difficult to find someone who cares as much about downtown as Kerry. He did a great job the four years I worked with him, McCoy said.

Keith Noble, a downtown insurance agent and member of the board, said he was taken aback when he learned Jensen had resigned.

“I know there were some people upset over the 3rd Friday cancellation, but I really don’t think that had anything to do with Kerry’s resignation,” Noble said.

Noble said he spoke with Jensen on Thursday.

“He said he wants to spend more time with his wife and family, and I believe him,” Nobel said.

“We will have a hard time finding another director that has the same passion and love for downtown. Kerry will be hard to replace,” Nobel said.

Rogers Police Capt. James Baker, a member of the board, said he was also surprised by Jensen’s resignation.

“Kerry has done a good job and has brought Rogers a long way in five years,” Baker said. “With his expertise, knowledge and drive, he got us recognition at the state and nation level. He will be missed.”

Jensen said he wanted to stay through November because Dana Mather, the organization’s event coordinator, has too much on her plate, through the end of the year.

“We have the board of director election, the budget and other matters that will need attention before Nov. 15. Dana has Oktoberfest, the Goblin Parade, Christmas parade, holiday lights and Holiday Hoopla to deal with. I don’t want to put more stress on her,” Kerry said.

Jensen is an avid sailor and owns a sail boat he keeps on Beaver Lake.

“I see sail boats in his future,” McCoy said.

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