Conrad Chamber-Main Street names new director

Anyone who knows Krista Grant knows that she’s anything but shy, and her outgoing personality and marketing background played key roles in the Conrad Chamber-Main Street board’s decision to name her as the organization’s next executive director.
           
“I really wanted to do something in the community. I can talk to anybody, and I’ve always done stuff in the community but wanted to become more of a part of the actual process of (building) it,” she said. “We have a great community and a great foundation, and there’s nowhere we can go but up.”
           
Grant, a Pella native, has lived in Conrad with her husband Marc for the last 16 years, and they have two elementary age daughters. She previously worked in hospice care but quit that job to apply, citing a desire to utilize the marketing degree she earned at Central College. She and late former director Darla Ubben, who passed away in December at the age of 46, were friends both professionally and personally, even attending the same church.
           
“The more knowledge you have of a community, the better. It’s definitely good to have someone with a lot of knowledge of the community coming on, and it would be difficult for someone outside of the community to pick up that job and run with it,” Mayor Jeff Martin said.
           
Rather than a tough act to follow, Grant sees Ubben’s legacy as a strong foundation to build upon—one that included a $500,000 Main Street renovation project in 2013 and 2014 and the opening of new businesses such as Hutch Screenprinting, The Farmer’s Daughter Photography, Conrad Hardware, the Groom Room and the Wilson Law Firm.
           
“I can’t wait to try and build on her (vision) and bring it to fruition,” Grant said. “One thing I always learned from Darla is (that) you never give up. If somebody tells you no, you go ask them again because eventually, they’re going to say yes.” 
 
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