Irena Kaci
Forever identifying herself as a ‘Grafton Hill Girlie’, Amy Peterson is truly a hometown hero. Born and raised in Worcester, she comes from a long line of Worcesterites. Even her father, an Ohio transplant, was quick to convert to the Worcester way of life. “My father hitchhiked here as a teenager,” Peterson begins, “He had one random family member that was in Worcester so he went for it. He used to go to Steeplebum’s, a nightclub that used to play live music in the 70s and 80s, and one night he met my mom there. They got together and he didn’t look back.” Even in seeking out her higher education, Peterson turned to Worcester State. “Worcester is not just the place that I’m from, but it’s also my brand. It’s very much a part of who I am and I wear it proudly.”
It was at Worcester State that Peterson was steered toward local work. Her advisor Donald Bullins steered her away from a Walt Disney World internship in Florida, and instead encouraged her to try something closer to home with the promise that, if she didn’t love it, she could apply to Walt Disney the following year with his blessing. This is how Peterson landed an internship with WXLO Radio, which marked her humble beginning. “They hired me part time through the remainder of my junior year and then again senior year,” she says. In 2003 upon graduation, Peterson had an easy transition into the workforce simply going from part time to full time with WXLO. “When I graduated they hired me full time as the promotions director 100.1 The Fox and Oldies 98.9. No oldies radio stations even exist anymore,” Peterson says, “I became the promotions director for the oldies. In less than a year, I became the director of marketing for all 3 stations. And definitely ended up staying local to Worcester.”
Like any young upstart, before making her way toward the first position at the DCU center, Peterson took a short detour towards The American Red Cross. “In 2006, I did a really short stint at the American Red Cross as a blood drive recruiter. I would go out to companies and colleges and set up blood drives and try to get people to give blood. I lasted for about a year. I have tremendous respect for what the Red Cross does, but it just wasn’t a passion for me.”
Nevertheless her experience in recruitment, and outreach absolutely paved the way toward her next challenge. John Lahair, current Marketing Director for the DCU center also served as Director of Marketing right around the time that Peterson was looking for her next challenge. “The Director of Marketing and at the time who’s now my current Marketing Director John LaHair approached me saying that he had accepted another position, and because of my previous experience with him at the radio station, encouraged me to apply as his replacement,” Peterson explains, “ Luckily, they took a chance on me and in 2008 I started working there.”
Peterson’s joy in the work is indeed palpable and connected to her sense of identity. “I feel like I’ve always been destined to do work that’s somehow in the entertainment industry. At the DCU Center, I was really drawn to the energy and excitement around the event day. Starting at moving, and promoters and moving in and assessing the backstage. Preparing the concourse., whether it’s for brand activations or fan activation. It’s really about the energy that both of those kind of carried for me. You are working when everyone else isn’t. It’s the energy that events bring and what they do for the city, for the neighborhood that you’re in, the economic impact, the pride. Bringing someone’s favorite artist in so they don’t have to drive an hour and a half to see them. I also love that it’s a team effort and nothing that I could take 100% credit for. If one piece of that chain comes apart, then the whole thing breaks.”
In reviewing her favorite high impact work, Peterson talked about the time that she was part of the team that launched Worcester’s First Craft Beer Festival. “At the time Worcester’s craft beer scene hadn’t quite exploded yet,” Peterson recalls, “Wormtown had just opened but it was at Peppercorn’s. We got together with Tom Oliveri, who was the owner of Wormtown. We told him ‘we’d love to partner with you and do a craft beer festival’. During that first year we had a lot of growing pains and learned a lot. Up until then a lot of the events that I’d worked at DCU were outside things coming in. and this one felt really like an internal initiative. That was a really proud moment for me.”
By 2017, Peterson had been at the DCU for nearly ten years. And it was right before her decade was rounding out that the City of Worcester, which owned the contract with DCU, came a-knocking. “I got a call from the Chief of Staff for then City Manager Ed Augustus. I was asked to go in for a meeting. I went in with a lot of hesitation about what I was going into. I really felt like I was going into the Principal’s Office to be scolded. I was instead asked to head up communications for the City. At the time, Worcester didn’t have a huge social media presence. Or a brand identity. They wanted more municipal branding and POV. I realized I was ready for a change so I took it on.”
While working on content creation, digital footprint expansion through social media, brand development etc., Peterson found herself in a position to learn a lot about the city that was her brand. “I worked closely with Discover Central Massachusetts and did a lot of research,” says Peterson, “I would do storytelling. Trying to tell good stories about what we were doing in city government. What that meant for the City of Worcester. Tell me what you’re doing and why it matters. Shaping that story and telling it in a way that’s relatable. A lot of times these departments just say ‘street engineering’ and could mean placemaking accessibility. That could mean walkability. How do we put it into layman’s terms and people understand what we are doing and why it matters?”
There were a lot of exciting projects during Augustus’ terms, but something that really stands out for Peterson still is her involvement with bringing the WooSox to Worcester. “We did a lot of things that I’m proud of. I was on the OG committee that helped bring the WooSox to Worcester so when we were in negotiations with them, it was a huge negotiation. What that would mean for shaping and redeveloping a neighborhood in the city. It was really exciting to see a thriving ballpark and successful team. Pawtucket was still interested. They were presenting their case to keep the PawSox or the team at the time. They wanted an investment in the ballpark because it was aging at that time. We were already looking at redeveloping the Wyman Gordon park so it was really exciting.”
Then Covid hit, and with it a new dimension of Peterson’s work with the city. “We were doing daily press conferences with the City Manager, and the Mayor. We had to communicate what was happening in the city. Because also at that point there was a lot of division about what was being delivered and CDC guidelines,” says Peterson adding, “It became more convoluted. It was a contentious time. It felt like a BIG responsibility because the work was important. In our more vulnerable communities, seniors who relied on senior centers, cable programming. They had so much need. Working with the schools and programming. Nobody was getting together. There was a huge sense of responsibility.”
A short while after that City Manager Ed Augustus left his post and Eric Batista was appointed as first interim and then eventually permanent City Manager. Peterson had already worked closely with Batista when he served as Director of Innovation and shortly after his appointment, he reached out and asked Peterson to be his Chief of Staff. Peterson was ready to rise to the next occasion.
“As Chief of Staff, I was his point of contact for his cabinet. So if they needed to tell him something, they would contact me. I would accompany him to meetings and do some of the external communications with him. The city is so complex. People have this perception in their mind of what a city government does and it really can be way off base. Seeing it from up close,. I have so much respect for municipal workers. They really grind and they work really hard, at least here in Worcester.”
When prompted to discuss what she views as a proud initiative working for Batista, Peterson is eager to discuss how hard they worked to remove barriers for employment and resources for the underserved. “Batista focused on reorganization and looking at the organizational health of our employees. He worked on really developing a DEI office that was resourced and capitalized. Batista was very thoughtful about reducing barriers for employment to the city. He taught me a lot about how to build a good workplace culture.”
Then this past January, fate came knocking once more. ”Sandy Dunn reached out to me to say that she was planning her retirement and thought that I might be a good replacement for her. After meeting a couple of times and trying to understand the role a bit more, I decided I was ready.”
‘“Amy Peterson’s return to the DCU Center is a true homecoming story,” said City Manager Eric D. Batista. “We achieved a lot together at City Hall and I am grateful for her time here. I was excited about the opportunity for her and happy to support her transition to this new role. The DCU Center is where she learned the ins and outs of the live entertainment industry and she understands the significant role it plays in the city’s economic success. I can’t think of a better person to be in the role now and I can’t wait to see how she thrives and makes it her own.”
This last February, Peterson returned to her beloved workplace’ Alma Mater’ the DCU Center. “It was such a wonderful homecoming! Everyone was so gracious and welcoming.”
Dunn had been the General Manager at the DCU Center for 40 years, and she was historically the first woman in that role. Along with Dunn, Assistant General Manager Jim Mowen was also retiring on the same day. Peterson’s work was more than cut out for her. “I walked in on my first week, I didn’t have an AGM, we had a sold out concert, opening their tour here. But there’s no way to launch yourself back into it other than just do it.”
As a music lover, Peterson seeks out live music everywhere she travels. “I will go out of my way to seek out concerts. I love arenas. I love an intimate club setting. I try to do one international trip a year to a place I’ve never been before totally on my own. And wherever I go, I try to go to a show. Even if I don’t know who it is, I find a local band or traveling artist and see them. And I always bring back a vinyl record, as a keepsake.”
Once more, Peterson is looking to shoulder a great deal of responsibility and carry the torch of such an historic local institution. There’s no question that Peterson intends to more than live up to the task. “I have a long list of goals and initiatives over the next several years.”
