Katie Wood, who has served as executive director for the Downtown Naperville Alliance for nearly 20 years, is preparing to bid the title farewell.
“It’s hard to say goodbye. It really is,” Wood said.
Serving downtown for 17 years
“It started when we first moved to town to Naperville in 1999. It was a next-door neighbor of mine who worked for the [Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce] at that point, and she said she knew my background, which had been in retail marketing and various marketing agency work, and she said, ‘You know, you might be a really good fit downtown.’ And so I started by helping out my predecessor, a wonderful gal named Patty Roberts, and in time, I took her job over when she moved out of state.”
Wood began her role in 2007. After a brief hiatus in 2021, she returned to the position in 2023.
New growth in businesses, events
In her 17 years of leadership, Wood recalled how the downtown area has grown…