By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The new assistant director of the Downtown Hays Development Corp. has hit the ground running.

Michaela Bartlett came on board in March just in time to help with the annual Brews on the Bricks and the DHDC’s other spring event, Shop Hop.

Bartlett will be the DHDC office manager, publish the DHDC newsletter, as well as be integral in planning and executing DHDC special events, Sara Bloom, DHDC executive director, said.

Bartlett, 23, came to Hays from working as a sales associate in her hometown of Dodge City. However, Bartlett also worked seven years for Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City in a variety of capacities. She has a bachelor’s degree in art and history from Benedictine College in Atchison.

Bartlett said she and her husband, Tate, had been looking to move for some time and finally settled on Hays. Tate works at Home Depot and is a Navy Reservist. Bartlett has extended family in the area and spent a lot of time in the area when she was growing up.

She first applied at the Hays Convention and Visitor’s Center, and CVB sent her to the DHDC, which had an open position.

“We were very fortunate for the CVB to send Michaela our way,” Bloom said. “We had over 20 applicants and six interviews, and she by far blew us away. We are excited about her background and experience and what she will be able to bring to this organization and ultimately downtown and our community.”

Bartlett said she loves being in Hays and feels very settled here. She and her husband just closed on a house.

Bartlett talked about why she took the job with DHDC.

“Being down here, I can gain a lot of connections for different things and aspects of [the job],” she said. “I also like being at the center of things and knowing exactly what is going on. If I have my family and I want to pull them in, I can say, ‘Hey, we have this going on.’ I like knowing not just what is going on downtown, but in Hays in general and having that connection to people and businesses.”