Walker named Batavia MainStreet executive director

After carrying an interim tag for just a day, Beth Walker was named Batavia MainStreet's executive director after a Friday morning vote by its board of directors.

Walker, named assistant director in June, replaces Sherri Wilcox after a Wednesday decision by the nonprofit organization's board.

"We've listened to our businesses and property owners, and we decided as a board to move forward in a different direction," MainStreet President Bob Hansen said in a statement.

Walker has been with Batavia MainStreet for a year as sponsorship coordinator and manager of the farmers market. She's lived in Batavia for 20 years and has extensive experience with community groups, including five years as president of the Studio Batavia Visual Arts Boosters.

"When I came into it, it was my little part-time job and didn't envision this," Walker said. "I'd just been volunteering for so many years and became more active."

Batavia MainStreet works to maintain the vitality of downtown Batavia through volunteer work. As executive director, Walker will help coordinate events, such as the farmers market, the Batavia Dinner Table, Small Business Saturday and BatFest.

"I anticipate the winter being difficult, and we'll do whatever we can to support the businesses," she said. "Not having events makes it hard to maintain our volunteer base, so we'll try to get back to the basics and start building our volunteer base for the upcoming year."