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SHARON – After 28 years promoting tourism and the local hospitality industry, Peggy Mazyck is hitting the road.
The president and chief executive officer of the Mercer County Tourist Promotion Agency is retiring next week. Carmen Aiello, the agency’s vice president of marketing, will assume the post.
“I’m really not totally going away,’’ Mazyck said. “I’ll still be doing consulting work for the agency and others.’’
Along with trips, she plans to hone her sports skills.
“I want to practice on my table tennis,’’ she said with a laugh.
Partly because of her long tenure, but mostly about her talent and skills, few people have gotten to define a local agency as much as her.
“She has made the organization the success it is today,’’ said Laura Ackley, the agency’s secretary and a member of its executive board.
Connie Leon, Daffin’s Candies manager who has been a member of the tourist agency for over 20 years, had similar thoughts.
“You can’t imagine what a joy it was in working with Peggy,’’ Leon said. “She was always willing to help everyone out.’’
Originally from Summerville, S.C., Mazyk’s family moved to Farrell when she was a child for her father to take a job at a local mill.
Graduating from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree, she would eventually go on to receive a master of business administration degree from Youngstown State University.
She joined the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce’s staff, eventually became its assistant director and did the office work for the tourism agency while there.
The agency decided to go out on its own and hired Mazyck in 1996. At the time, its annual budget was around $100,000.
“We couldn’t do very much then,’’ she said. “But we did what we could.’’
But that changed.
She along with leaders in five other counties sought more income through legislation. With the help of Rod Wilt, then the local state representative, they pushed it over the goal line.
A measure was approved in 1997 allowing counties to levy a 2% hotel tax – better known as a bed tax. Over the years, the tax has been increased to its current 5% rate, which is netting the local tourist agency over $1 million annually.
“We got something nobody thought we could get,’’ Mazyck said.
And the agency unexpectedly got help in another way before the legislation passed. When Grove City Premium Outlets opened in 1994 in Springfield Township. it became an instant hit among travelers and those throughout the region.
“As the factory outlets succeeded, more and more hotels were built in that area,’’ she said. “That helped us getting more money from the bed tax.’’
Those bed tax bucks allows the agency to market the area for everything from shopping to golf.
Even better, the agency provides matching grants for advertising.
And the organization also has a $200,000 matching-grant kitty for development projects involving tourism. Just this year, a grant helped the ACTS Performing Arts Center in downtown Sharon buy a new $45,000 LED digital viewing screen for its stage productions.
And some sharp advertising aided local hotels in attracting crowds to see the April solar eclipse.
“The hotels were sold out for that,’’ Mazyck said.
The internet has been a game-changer for the tourism industry, she said. Tourists want to view online details before making decisions on trips.
“I know for myself I go online for my travel decisions,’’ Mazyck said.
And, of course, golfing remains a strong player in the local tourism industry.
“I can tell you the demand for golf, particularly on weekends, is very, very heavy,’’ she said. “We like to promote stay-and-play packages for people to stay overnight before or after golfing.’’
Mazyck served in the military for much of her adult life. She served in the Army Reserve for over 20 years and retired in 2001 as a master sergeant. Her long stint in the military was partly due to family heritage.
“My father was in the Army,’’ Mazyck said. “And it provided lots of travel, which attracted me.’’
She first started with the Pendel-Caminiti Army Reserve Center in Farrell dealing with petroleum supplies and eventually became an instructor.
Mazyck was called up for active duty in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm and was sent to Fort Gregg-Adams, formerly known as Fort Lee, near Petersburg, Va., where she taught those who were expected to be shipped out.
“Anything about dealing with getting petroleum to units and those in the field was part of the instruction,’’ she said.
Mazyck is also a mom with an adult daughter, Nicole, who lives in Cleveland.
She has made solid impressions on others – regardless of their political affiliation.
And that includes Wilt, now executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corp., Mercer County’s lead economic development agency. A Republican, prior to that he served as state representative for the former local 17th District, then was selected to represent the state Senate’s 50th District.
Wilt said he has known Mazyck professionally for over 25 years.
“Over her long tenure, I have seen her develop our local tourist promotion agency into a regional powerhouse that has garnered statewide attention for their marketing and promotion of Mercer County,’’ Wilt said “Peggy has become an expert in marketing small to midsize counties and drawing visitors from across the United States and Canada.’’
Under her leadership, he said, the agency has been a strong supporter of economic development in the region.
“As an organization, we have valued this relationship immensely, and we will miss working with Peggy on important projects that enhance the viability of the travel and tourism sector of our economy,’’ Wilt said. “We wish her all the best in her retirement.’’
Mark Longietti, a Democrat who formerly was the state representative for the 7th District and now Hermitage’s director of business and community development, also had high praise.
While in office, he was chairman of House Tourism Committee.
“Peggy has been an incredible advocate for Mercer County tourism across the state and beyond and her hard work, along with her team, has translated into countless visitors to Mercer County, which have benefited our small businesses and communities,’’ he said. “She has distinguished herself at the state level and the relationships she has built in Harrisburg, and across the state, have been invaluable to our county.’’
And there was something else within Mazyck, Longietti said.
“I found to her have impeccable integrity and credibility,” he said.
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