ABOVE: Visit Fairmont’s new Director, Brittany Hartman, is pictured in her office.

FAIRMONT– Visit Fairmont’s new Director, Brittany Hartman, brings with her an enthusiasm and appreciation for the community. Hartman started her role with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau in late February.

Originally from Garden City, Hartman attended Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial High School and upon graduating, she went to Minnesota State University-Mankato, where she studied recreation, parks and leisure services.

“The parks and rec department is fun. I love that so thought I might as well do it for work,” Hartman said of why she was interested in the field.

She graduated in 2021 and took on an internship with the St. Peter Parks and Recreation Department. Following that, she started a job with the Best Western Plus/Conference Center in New Ulm as the sales and catering manager. She was there from the fall of 2021 through January 2024.

Speaking as to why she was interested in Fairmont, Hartman shared that she and her husband, Jeremiah, live between Truman and Winnebago and that she regularly comes to Fairmont.

“I always wanted to work here and wanted to do a job within what I studied for school. I was waiting for a job to come up and now I’m here,” Hartman said. “I think it’s a good community. I love the town and the people are nice and there are fun things to do.”

As Director of Visit Fairmont, Hartman is responsible for planning, directing, managing and overseeing Fairmont’s convention and visitor activities and operations which includes marketing, sales and services in order to attract over night visits to the city. Essentially, she’s promoting Fairmont to people outside of the community.

Hartman had a lot to say about what assets Fairmont has that can draw people to it.

“Fairmont is the city of five lakes and there is a lot to do year-round with the lakes. You can boat, fish, play pond hockey. There are a lot of parks, more than 20. There’s also the county fair and a lot of other fun things to do,” she said.

Despite growing up nearby, Hartman said she’s surprised to continue to learn all that Fairmont has to offer.

While she’s been on the job just three weeks, Hartman is already deep into a few projects. She said Visit Fairmont is in the midst of putting out a new visitor’s guide and that she’s attempting to update the website with some new content.

“I want to update it with some new pictures and get the social media pages rolling again,” Hartman said.

She said that Visit Fairmont had recently gotten some drone photos and videos taken and she’s excited to get the footage out and into the community.

“There is more to come. There’s a lot of videos and photos and there will be more coming throughout the year,” Hartman said.

The Visit Fairmont Director answers to a board of directors made up of key stakeholders in the community. The board chair, Jason Subbert, said that because Hartman is from Southern Minnesota she understand what sets Martin County apart and can promote that.

“Because she’s been an event planner, she understands what it takes to put events on and promote them and be a part of them,” Subbert said.

He also noted that Hartman is an eager student and appears to be excited to learn.

“I think what stood out is that she’s interested in being in an industry that is evolving and changing and there’s always something new to learn and new people to meet,” Subbert said.