By Tara Fort
Tourism industry Veteran MJ Smith and Arizona native Sheri Shaw bring enthusiastic collective energy to the Prescott Downtown Partnership (PDP), the merchant’s association formed in 1999 to provide a voice for the stakeholders in historic downtown Prescott. While currently serving on the PDP Board for four years, Shaw became President last year and is now in her second and final year as President. Smith has been in the tourism sector for 13 years, most recently in the Bullhead/Laughlin area in a position that fostered the seamless transition to Executive Director of the PDP. Both women share the goals of Prescott to retain its small-town downtown feel, most noticeable at events and venues sprinkled throughout town.
Smith has not looked back since March of 2019 when she moved to Prescott and states, “The historical energy, cleanliness, and openness of downtown Prescott make it unique among main streets in America. And, while so many have seen a decline in their old town neighborhoods, downtown Prescott has found a way to own its identity as the territorial capital while continuing to evolve.” Having an office location downtown allows the PDP to regularly check the pulse of all that Prescott offers. Says Shaw, “The Courthouse Square gives us that sense of community. It’s where we gather to celebrate, it’s where to come together for fundraising events, and it’s where we have come together as a community to mourn when we lost our Hotshots.”
Both women own businesses in town—Shaw owns Back Alley Wine Bar in the Montezuma Alley behind Whiskey Row, and Smith owns the Chef Shax food truck with her husband—and both recognize the extreme impact that restaurants and businesses experienced in most of 202 with shuttering and closing. As restaurants and businesses work toward finding their way back to the mainstream, Prescott residents will rely on the efforts of PDP to be instrumental in driving business back to those establishments. States Smith, “We have so many plans for new events and campaigns and are moving forward under the assumption that life will resume a level of normalcy at some point.”
Last year, the organization hosted Everybody’s Hometown Festival in October—an event where attendees could sample food and drink from various quad-city restaurants. While the event is on “pause” for now, Shaw is confident it will continue in the coming years and says, “We are planning events as if the world is going to keep turning. These events are what make Prescott Prescott!” Adds Smith, “Our primary goal in 2020 and into 2021 is to continue to operate, and offer safe, outdoor opportunities for our community and our visitors and to ensure the events that people know and love such as the Courthouse Lighting will continue.”