Jill Boggs, right, is executive director of Kosciusko County Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is pictured with Tina Keaffaber, who also works at the CVB, looking at the new 2017 visitors guide. (Photo by Phoebe Muthart)
WARSAW — As Jill Boggs drives to work every day, she gets to enjoy the beautiful scenery northern Indiana has to offer. Her 40-minute commute, from Albion to Warsaw, and then back home again, gives Boggs time to contemplate how best to promote Kosciusko County, home to in excess of 100 lakes.
It’s a job she enjoys immensely.
Boggs has been executive director of the Kosciusko County Convention and Visitors Bureau for the past 16 months. She has an extensive background in marketing and management.
Boggs grew up in Illinois and Indiana and received her bachelor’s degree in social work for Ball State University. She moved to Kansas City to work for a brokerage firm, before moving to Atlanta and then to Angola, where she lived for 23 years.
She worked at Pokagon State Park for 13 years as its office manager. She was also CEO of the Angola Area Chamber of Commerce for six years. “I loved my chamber job,” she recalled fondly.
She went back to school to get her master’s degree in management from Indiana Weslyan University. She worked for Trine University, Angola, for nine years in the marketing department. While there, she grew the marketing department. She later resigned in June 2015 to pursue other opportunities.
“I purposely started looking in Kosciusko County,” Boggs explained of job seeking. Boggs applied and was eventually was offered the CVB job.
Boggs oversees three full-time employees and a 15-member board and they all work closely together.
“Our goal is 20 group tour buses this year,” she said. “The economic impact is huge with tour buses.”
Boggs and her staff recently released the 2017 Kosciusko County Visitors Guide. “We had over 63,000 copies go out,” Boggs noted.
Boggs said the best part of her job is promoting the county. “I believe we have some awesome things to tell people about,” said Boggs, who is energetic and passionate about the county. “Our primary role is to be hospitality related.”
Boggs said her job is an “ongoing process of learning.” She also works with other CVB agencies in northern Indiana.
The best things about Kosciusko County are the mix of towns, country and the dynamic outdoor environment, she noted.
“We have awesome communities and many town amenities,” she said, as she looks through the CVB tour guide she helped write and put together.
Boggs lives in Chain O’ Lakes State Park in Albion, where her husband, Sam, is the park manager. The couple have three children and two grandchildren.
She enjoys biking and camping in her spare time and is also a member of the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club.