Ian Andrews Takes the Reins of LakewoodAlive

Two weeks into his new position as , Ian Andrews hasn’t stopped moving.

He’s been hitting the pavement, shaking a lot of hands and meeting business leaders all over the city.

Andrews left his post last month as the marketing and development director with the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, to take the LakewoodAlive position, announced in April she was stepping down.

He’s already overseen his first big community event with the this past weekend — a big success.

He’s hoping for many more.

Lakewood Patch caught up with Andrews this week at the , where we talked about the future of the local economic development organization, its plans for the future and its challenges.

But first, the vitals:

Home: Kamm’s Corners in Cleveland, but he says he’s planning to move to Lakewood.

Age: 29.

Hometown: Warren.

You’re replacing Mary Anne Crampton. Thoughts on filling those shoes?

Mary Anne did an awesome job. I can’t even begin to fill her shoes. I can only try to do whatever I can to make a difference.

What are some of the things you’d really like to promote?

That's something we're diving into right now. First, we want to form a marketing committee — there hasn't been one. We want to develop that and we'd like to create a comprehensive approach — through the E-letter newsletter, through social media, through our media partners. And we want to continue to update our website, making updates a little more timely. 

When trying to brand Lakewood, how do we effectively do that? That’s what I need to learn. 

What do you see as Lakewood’s greatest strength?

Its people. I am finding that out very quickly. This past weekend (at the Lakewood Streetwalk) was incredible. The volunteer corps here is unbelievable. The Detroit Shoreway has great volunteers — but it’s not even apples to apples — the people here are so unbelievably committed to seeing the city succeed. That’s really impressive. I am blown away by the people’s support.

What do you spend most of your time on?

Learning. It’s learning and meeting. I am trying to get out and meet as many people as I can. Being at as many committee meetings as I can. I don’t want to be that person behind the desk. I want to be out and about. So I’ve been walking around and going in the stores. I want to do it more. 

What are some of the challenges ahead?

It’s probably a little too early to tell. I want to make sure that everyone is communicating with everyone — that we all know what’s going on. We have so many cool events, and we get the word out, but I want to make sure that everybody knows exactly what’s going on.

The biggest thing for me right now, is to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t work in this city. And what people like and don’t like about LakewoodAlive. That’s really valuable and important.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I am unbelievably excited to be in this position, to be working with so many cool people. And I really think there are so many things we can do — there’s so much potential. This city is really solid. So many great things have already happened, so I think we can continue to improve. There’s already a really great foundation.