The Douglas Design District has a new face.
Renee Duxler has agreed to become the executive director of the nonprofit civic organization, which includes more than 100 member businesses in the district on downtown Wichita’s east side.
Duxler, a Wichita businesswoman who ran for a spot on the Sedgwick County Commission last year, had been a board member with the organization before closing her small business in November.
She will now oversee day-to-day operations for the organization, which was started in 2007. Last year, it was announced that the organization would receive $84,500 in grant monies over two years from the Knight Foundation Fund at the Wichita Community Foundation.
“It’s a pretty big step for us, but quite frankly, long overdue,” said Bill Jackson, founder of the organization and CEO of Transitions Group. “We have grown exponentially over the last five years and it was time to invest in this position. We’re all very excited about what this means for our members as well as our community as a whole.”
About 300 businesses exist in the district — which runs from Oliver west to Washington and Second Street south to Kellogg — with more than 100 dues-paying members belonging to the civic group.
(Read more: Wichita Business Journal)