Since 2017, Jeff Payne has worked tirelessly over his multiple years running the Downtown Middletown Main Street Program. COVID served a devastating blow to our efforts. Despite it all, and perhaps because of it all, Jeff has risen to the occasion and done the work of three or four staff for the organization. While our volunteers lagged, businesses closed, and events cancelled, Jeff stepped up his efforts to lead the downtown through the storm.
Jeff is a consummate professional, interfacing with Heritage Ohio leadership and Main Street America to ensure that best practices are being learned and shared. He attends the conventions, he meets with local leaders and organizations regularly, and does an all-around fantastic job of promoting and sustaining Downtown Middletown, Inc.
Jeff has foremost successfully kept a struggling and somewhat fractured downtown business landscape alive and functioning. He has worked thoughtfully and in the weeds with owners who are struggling. In doing that, he has been able to continue to make forward progress with incentive programs, pivoting events, and continuing to find ways to attract people to the downtown. Most notably, he has done all of this with kindness, a big smile, and humility that puts the experiences and the people ahead of himself.