Rush To Replace Staley As Next President/CEO Of Tuscaloosa Tourism & Sports

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Tourism & Sports President and CEO Don Staley knew he had something special after first hiring Kelsey Rush in 2010 to become TTS's director of Event Operations & Sports Marketing.

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The job would be her first full-time professional position out of college and, more than a decade later, culminated in Rush being named the successor to her longtime mentor, as she is set to replace Staley as president and CEO when he retires in the coming year.

Rush will take over an annual budget that has grown over the years to top $1 million, in addition to TTS's nine employees.

"I knew that the work ethic that I saw from her, the sweat equity, there was a different side to the abilities that allowed her to see through the trees, so to speak, " Staley said of when he first hired Rush. "So, I knew she had a gift in her ability to bring people together and I knew she was going to be great in the sports industry."

Rush, who returned to TTS as its vice president of Marketing and Communications in 2021 after working nearly five years in a similar role at Bryant Bank, credits her range of experiences with preparing her to take over such an important role within a local economy that runs on tourism.

"I have always said I maybe won't know where I'm going to land when it comes to a job, but it's important for me to do something that makes a difference in my community," she said in an interview with Patch. "It was even the same at Bryant Bank. I never pictured myself being in a corporate-type role like that, but it allowed me to be at a company that gave back to the community."

Max Karrh, TTS vice chair and a SVP at Bryant Bank, also spoke to Rush's experience across different sectors.

“She brings the experience necessary to move TTS – a destination marketing organization – forward in the trajectory that Don Staley has the organization heading now," he said. "The board of directors is proud of the TTS team and its success in creating tourism opportunities for West Alabama.”

Originally from Kansas, Rush is a 2010 graduate of Fort Hays State University, where she received a bachelors degree in communication studies, with an emphasis on public relations.

But it would be her experience early in her career, in the wake of the April 27, 2011 tornado, that she credits with being among the most formative in her professional journey.

Roughly a week after the devastation and death wrought by the storm, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox asked Rush to be a public information officer for the city's Joint Information Center. And it would be the myriad meetings and long work days that not only familiarized her with the inter-workings of municipal government, but also provided a masters class when it came to developing relationships that will no doubt be useful in her new role.

"Essentially, I was there to help monitor the media and what was being said, but it put me in a position where I was attending all of the city meetings, getting updates four or five times a day," she said. "That's where I got to know people like the mayor, Stacy Vaughn, Glenda Webb and Tera Tubbs. It was so pivotal for my career."

Rush is also highly involved on numerous boards in the Tuscaloosa community, including positions with Tuscaloosa's One Place, Young Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority Foundation and Junior Achievement of Alabama.

But it has also been her extensive work with the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama that has played a role in shaping the approach of the rapidly-rising young professional.

Staley echoed this sentiment after saying his protégé would be better off in the long run because of her time at Bryant Bank and involvement with the Chamber.

"She's got all of these connections and all of her connections through the Chamber," he said. "I don't think it's going to hurt that she is going to know how to navigate through the governmental entities, be it Tuscaloosa, the county or Northport."

Indeed, Rush will have an edge due to her longstanding relationships with movers and shakers on the other side of the Black Warrior River — figures like Northport City Administrator Glenda Webb and Northport City Engineer Tera Tubbs, who are both former City of Tuscaloosa department heads.

"My vision would be that our organization just compliments and capitalizes on the opportunities coming from Elevate Tuscaloosa," she said of the recently implemented sales tax increase in Tuscaloosa that is funding a wide-range of community efforts. "I also don't want to ignore what Northport is doing, either, because they are doing some really key things that is going to add to this experience that we have here in west Alabama. So, between those two municipalities, I want to capitalize on the energy that is there and promote west Alabama as a destination to bring your conferences and sporting events, too."

When looking back on more than a decade of involvement with TTS, Rush was quick to praise Staley and spoke at length about the legacy the beloved former Alabama soccer coach is leaving behind as his tenure at the helm for TTS.

"People know about TTS because of Don," Rush said, before mentioning the growing pains of the 2010 merger of the Tuscaloosa Sports Foundation and the Convention & Visitors Bureau that resulted in the creation of TTS. "I think it's taken a decade for people to really know and understand who we are and why we exist. We're both jokingly on our second tours of duty, but these last four or five years really made a difference. I also think about Don as the advocate he is for the hospitality and tourism industry and advocating for their needs."

The transition won't be without its obvious challenges, Rush said, but it's a prospect she has been preparing most of her adult life for, whether she realized it or not.

"I tell people all the time, we have a sellable destination in projects like the Saban Center or events center if that happens or what Northport is talking about doing," she said, referencing Northport's push to fund and construct a new aquatic center and youth tournament facility. "Those are the little things we need that are going to make a really big difference. The positive thing is, I feel like with the challenges we do have, we're all talking about them. Facilities we're talking about, air travel we're talking about and for so long our organization, when we talk about who we are as a brand and branding our community, for so long we kind of ran away from our identity."

This is where Rush, and Staley, share a vision for the future, namely in promoting tourism relating to the Black Warrior River — events such as fishing, rowing and other water sports and tourism offerings centered on the river and other big bodies of water like Lake Tuscaloosa.

"People know us in Tuscaloosa because of the University of Alabama in sports, but we are now taking the approach to fully embrace that and use that as the hook to get their attention and then let's tell them what else there is to do in our great community," Rush said. "We maybe don't have the sandy beaches of Gulf Shores or Orange Beach, but we have a hidden gem here."

Looking ahead to his inevitable retirement, Staley expressed a high degree of optimism and excitement for the growth ahead at TTS under Rush's leadership.

"I know that I will leave this place better than I found it and I think, as you start looking at all the transitions of leadership, the baton is being passed and she is going to continue to take it to another level."

But if you ask Rush, the credit for TTS's success and where she is today can be largely attributed to Staley.

"Don built a strong house," she said. "He didn't even lay the foundation. He built the whole house and my hope is just to keep that house stable ... Don has played such a huge role in creating an experience economy for our community. Literally the number of events that he’s touched in some way, shape or form is probably in the thousands. That’s memories that families have made, restaurants and bars filled with guests traveling to our city, jobs created, and more. If only we knew the economic impact of the things that Don has had his hand in, but that’s a legacy in itself."

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