Durham TDA Welcomes New Chair and Officers

Bill LeFevre, executive director of Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University, is the new chairman of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau's governing board, the Tourism Development Authority.  Vice Chairman is Summer Bicknell of Locopops, and Monica Edwards of Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast is Secretary/Treasurer of the Authority.

LeFevre's background includes a B.S. in Landscape Design from the University of Connecticut and a M.S. in Public Horticulture Administration as a fellow in the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware.

Since being named as Duke Gardens’ first full-time director in 2007, the Gardens have completed over $6,000,000 in capital projects including the Durham Toyama Sister Cities Pavilion and Japanese Garden in the Asiatic Arboretum, relocation of the century-old Roney Fountain from East Campus to the re-designed Mary Duke Biddle Rose Garden and completion of the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden, a pilot project of the national Sustainable Sites Initiative.

Summer Bicknell was first appointed to the TDA in 2011.  Prior to starting Locopops, Summer earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University and spent 10 years doing marketing and information technology for a Fortune 500 company.  She is passionate about smart growth, retaining and cultivating all things distinctly Durham as well as Durham's foodie culture.

Monica R. Edwards brings a small business perspective to the TDA from her experience as an innkeeper. She is an ambassador for Durham and the Bed & Breakfast sector of the economy. She is an active member of the Inns of Durham, North Carolina Bed & Breakfast & Inns and The Professional Association of Inkeepers International. In 2012, Edwards was recognized with the Outstanding Business Services Award by the National Council of Negro Women

The TDA, the governing board for the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, is marking its 26th year since being first appointed in 1988. DCVB, Durham’s marketing agency, was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly as a provision for granting Durham County authority in 1986 to levy a visitor “room occupancy and tourism development tax.” The Authority was appointed according to terms in an Interlocal Agreement by the City Council and Board of County Commissioners. Each body appoints five members to seats with specific qualifications and jointly appoint another.

DCVB is an independent agency under the North Carolina Local Government Budget & Fiscal Control Act and falls under the oversight of the North Carolina Local Government Commission.