Downtown Frankfort's new executive director " a former bookstore owner in Key West, Fla. " says she's living proof you can come home and find contentment.

Kelly Everman, 45, of Rockland Court, near the Capitol Annex, says she was "wonderfully surprised by the metamorphosis of my hometown," when she returned to Frankfort 18 months ago after a 27-year departure.

She wanted the Downtown Frankfort job "because it spoke to my heart. I knew I would be representing something I really believe in. I'm at an age now where I am no longer willing to align myself with a business or an organization that doesn't match my philosophy and my integrity."

In her letter to the Downtown Frankfort board's selection committee, Everman said her "background in communications is extensive and shows my dedication to forging honest and heartfelt connections with everyoneI bring a sense of respect for the history of downtown Frankfort coupled with a vision for its future.

"My perspective is expansive, as I have lived in several other communities. I have the ability to see possibilities and the skills to help make them become a reality. I'm inspired by the challenge of unifying a variety of interests. I feel I can be a catalyst to help downtown Frankfort become a more vibrant, thriving and evolving community."

Everman starts work March 10 at an annual salary of $37,500.

Downtown Frankfort Co-President John Senter said the board voted unanimously to hire Everman last week after reviewing 10 applications and interviewing four.

"We are all excited about having her," Senter said. "She grew up here, has worked downtown at Capital Cellars (Wine and Spirits Caf Market on Broadway) and seems very passionate about downtown."

She replaces Harry Carver, who served 18 months as executive director before being hired as the Renaissance Program coordinator in the Governor's Office of Local Development.

"Harry did a great job," Senter said. "While we lost him to GOLD, he's still an asset to us."
Carver will continue to serve as a nonvoting member of Downtown Frankfort.

"He sat on the selection committee and was very much for our selection," Senter said. "Harry lives downtown and will still be an active member. With his help, this should be an extremely smooth transition."

A Franklin County High School graduate, Everman earned a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Louisville in 1985.

For six years in Key West, she was owner and manager of Kindred Spirit Bookstore and Tearoom, which had seven employees and a gross annual sales of $350,000.

Also in Key West " before opening the bookstore " Everman was volunteer coordinator for one year for AIDS Help Inc., a nonprofit agency servicing the health and welfare of individuals living with HIV/AIDS; and worked three years as community outreach coordinator for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
At the sanctuary, Everman created, produced and hosted a weekly, 30-minute educational and environmental TV show titled "Waterways" for the Keys and South Florida.

From 1989 to 1994, Everman was employed in Louisville as a sales representative for Bergen Brunswig, a large pharmaceutical wholesale company. Before that, she was a regional marketing manager for two years at Club Corporation of America in Knoxville, Tenn., according to her rsum.

When she returned to Frankfort, she says she was immediately drawn to downtown.

"There's an aliveness in the downtown Frankfort area," she says. "I find that the people who work and live downtown care about where they are and where they live. I want to be around people like that."

While looking forward to starting the job, Everman admits there's "a huge learning curve for me." She says she doesn't have much experience in historic preservation, "but I have an appreciation for restoring something back to its original beauty."

In the first few months she plans to ask a lot of questions and listen.

"It would be arrogant of me to walk into this job and say I'm going to do these top-five things," she says. "I need to talk to all of the board members and get to know them and understand what they feel the direction of the organization needs to be. I need to talk to the members and the merchants and get their input."

She also wants to find out why others aren't involved in Downtown Frankfort.

"I believe our absolute best market is the rest of Franklin County, the people who surround us but maybe for some reason aren't as aware of what is going on down here that is exciting," Everman says. "Maybe they don't quite know how to get involved.

"I want to be in the middle of it all, finding ways to unify. It's easy in our world for things to be divisive. I look at things and say we're a lot more alike than we're different. Maybe different groups have different goals, but I believe there is common ground. And I am constantly searching for that, no matter whom I meet. I consider everyone I talk with someone I can learn from."