MONROE - Nearly three years after Jordan Nordby, executive director of Main Street Monroe, began his adventure in improving Monroe's downtown, he will leave to pursue a new endeavor in economic development.
But Nordby had not been planning to leave.
"I wasn't looking for a new job, but Southwestern Regional Planning Commission approached me," Nordby said. "It was very humbling and very surprising. I wasn't planning on leaving Monroe; I didn't even have an updated resume to give them. It's just this huge door opened up."
Despite a lack of preparedness for the offer, Nordby accepted. Nov. 3 is his final day at Main Street Monroe before moving to Platteville to work for SWWRPC as an economic development planner. His central area of development will be in Dodgeville. The other half of his job duties will include project planning for five counties throughout southern Wisconsin, including Green County.
SWWRPC was pivotal in organizing discussion of the Monroe 2015 Comprehensive Plan, but Nordby noted the group will likely be less involved for now.
A Green Bay native, Nordby began as director of Main Street Monroe on Jan. 5, 2015, after previous experience working with a Main Street organization. He noted how fortunate he has been to find careers that matched the education he received from St. Norbert College in De Pere and Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He gained degrees in public policy, with an emphasis in state and local policy.
As far as a replacement for his position, Nordby said the board plans to update the job description and put a steering committee in place, though the group will be busy with internal work. He said a new hire likely won't be made until December or January.
Cara Carper, executive director of the Green County Development Corporation, has worked with Nordby in her current job and in her former position as director of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. She noted that SWWRPC "scoops up" the best people for their organization when they can.
"They are so lucky to have him," Carper said. "Jordan has always been a delight to work with great ideas, but also gets things done."
Nordby noted the supportive community and volunteers who made his job possible when he said a major accomplishment of Main Street Monroe has been the growth in events downtown through diversifying programs. He credited Green County Tourism Director Noreen Rueckert for the variety in Concerts on the Square. Nordby also said the downtown Wine Walk, which has participants visit stores in the area, has bolstered the different types of shops along the Square.
Now set to move to Platteville, Nordby said he will greatly miss the community he has helped grow while living in the downtown, or what he refers to as "the heart of the city." Having lived in larger communities his entire life, Nordby said he knows the cliche of small towns seeming close-knit and supportive but said Monroe has "set the bar really high" in its show of willingness to work together.
"It's been really fantastic overall," he said. "The thing that has blown me away is how committed people are to the downtown. I think I understand 'bittersweet' a little bit better now. It feels like home."
But Nordby had not been planning to leave.
"I wasn't looking for a new job, but Southwestern Regional Planning Commission approached me," Nordby said. "It was very humbling and very surprising. I wasn't planning on leaving Monroe; I didn't even have an updated resume to give them. It's just this huge door opened up."
Despite a lack of preparedness for the offer, Nordby accepted. Nov. 3 is his final day at Main Street Monroe before moving to Platteville to work for SWWRPC as an economic development planner. His central area of development will be in Dodgeville. The other half of his job duties will include project planning for five counties throughout southern Wisconsin, including Green County.
SWWRPC was pivotal in organizing discussion of the Monroe 2015 Comprehensive Plan, but Nordby noted the group will likely be less involved for now.
A Green Bay native, Nordby began as director of Main Street Monroe on Jan. 5, 2015, after previous experience working with a Main Street organization. He noted how fortunate he has been to find careers that matched the education he received from St. Norbert College in De Pere and Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He gained degrees in public policy, with an emphasis in state and local policy.
As far as a replacement for his position, Nordby said the board plans to update the job description and put a steering committee in place, though the group will be busy with internal work. He said a new hire likely won't be made until December or January.
Cara Carper, executive director of the Green County Development Corporation, has worked with Nordby in her current job and in her former position as director of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. She noted that SWWRPC "scoops up" the best people for their organization when they can.
"They are so lucky to have him," Carper said. "Jordan has always been a delight to work with great ideas, but also gets things done."
Nordby noted the supportive community and volunteers who made his job possible when he said a major accomplishment of Main Street Monroe has been the growth in events downtown through diversifying programs. He credited Green County Tourism Director Noreen Rueckert for the variety in Concerts on the Square. Nordby also said the downtown Wine Walk, which has participants visit stores in the area, has bolstered the different types of shops along the Square.
Now set to move to Platteville, Nordby said he will greatly miss the community he has helped grow while living in the downtown, or what he refers to as "the heart of the city." Having lived in larger communities his entire life, Nordby said he knows the cliche of small towns seeming close-knit and supportive but said Monroe has "set the bar really high" in its show of willingness to work together.
"It's been really fantastic overall," he said. "The thing that has blown me away is how committed people are to the downtown. I think I understand 'bittersweet' a little bit better now. It feels like home."