By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A new director prepares to take over at St. Joseph Community Alliance, but new only to the role, not the community.
Tom Brand worked as KFEQ Farm Director for 15 years before moving on to become executive director of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, where he served for 12 years.
Brand says it is important to remember St. Joseph’s past as the city looks to its future.
“I told the committee as I interviewed for the job, there’s a reason the windshield is larger than the rearview mirror,” Brand tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “It’s because you’ve got to look ahead and see the full landscape. At the same time, you’re glad to have that rearview mirror, so you can see where you’ve been and have an appreciation of what’s been in the past.”
St. Joseph Community Alliance is a partnership with a number of groups in the community, including the City of St. Joseph, Buchanan County, the Chamber of Commerce, the St. Joseph School District, Missouri Western State University, the United Way, the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the 139th Airlift Wing.
Brand says St. Joseph shouldn’t worry about the image some people have of it.
“There are some communities I think might get bruised by, ‘We’re a manufacturing town, We’re a blue-collar town.’ And I don’t know that you can say St. Joe is a blue-collar town,” Brand says. “I think it’s a blue-collar town, it’s a white-collar town, it’s a no collar town. It’s a working community and community, of course, being the key word there.”
Brand points out St. Joseph is the third biggest exporter in Missouri, only behind Kansas City and St. Louis.
Though Brand left KFEQ for NAFB, he never moved from St. Joseph, commuting to the NAFB offices in Platte City. Brand proudly states he and his wife have spent more than half their lives in St. Joseph.
“Bottom line, I do care,” Brand says. “As I’ve grown older, that’s one of those things that’s been a theme that I’ve noticed is when people care then they seem to do extremely well in the position.”
Brand takes over for Tama Wagner, who served as director for five years.
Brand plans to use Imagine St. Joseph 2040 as his guide in the new role.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.