Fostering Relationships, Forging Partnerships

Mary Somnis, Eveleth, BCLP 1997
Tourism Marketing Coordinator, Iron Range Resources 

Creating a Sense of Place
Mary Somnis understands the importance of a “sense of place.” She promotes the northeastern corner of Minnesota as a place for recreation, economic opportunity and unparalleled natural beauty, but most of all, for living. The quality of life on Minnesota’s Iron Range and North Shore ultimately comes down to appreciating it as a place people call home.

Mary grew up in the Twin Cities and “moved north” in her 20s to work summers for a canoe outfitter and winters for ski resorts. She married and settled in the Tofte area. When her children were young, Mary did office work for the Lutsen-Tofte Tourism Association. Leaders there asked her to attend some meetings to take minutes, then to take on some projects. That led to a 10-year stint as the Association’s executive director during which she says she “learned from the best of the best about tourism marketing in northeastern Minnesota.”

When Mary took her current position at Iron Range Resources (IRR), she brought with her more than a keen knowledge of the industry. She also had a significantly larger arena in which to demonstrate her leadership skills. “My community is now a six-county area that includes the North Shore, Ely, Lake Vermilion, the Iron Range, Voyageur’s National Park, Grand Rapids, Aitkin, and Crosby. The size of the territory means finding ways to encourage 15-plus communities to work collaboratively to market the region as a whole. This common action cultivates the sort of economic activity that benefits those who choose to live in the region. In the process of collaborating, communities are finding that they are not competitors, but partners. “What’s good for one is good for all, though not every project benefits everybody. Over time, the benefits even out.”

Mary fosters relationships that make partnership a possibility – a concept at the very heart of social capital. “People in the next town or in other parts of the region stop becoming ‘them.’ They are people ‘like us’ concerned about the economic well-being of the area and its ability to support a viable way of life, the natural resources that support and enrich us, and the values we want to pass on to our children.”

Stakeholder Values & Viewpoints
Whether it involves issues of tourism or other concerns impacting community life, Mary finds that leadership usually involves bringing different points of view together to figure out how people can address a common need. Like many other BCLP alums, Mary appreciates in a unique way the idea of stakeholders. “Because it is really important to include stakeholders, I am attentive at meetings when one or two people are dominating a discussion. I have learned to stop and use the nominal process so that every person has a chance to make their stake in the process understood.”

Attentiveness like this is essential to community leadership because, as Mary might argue, it is not just the loudest voices that carry the best information. Listening to the full range of opinions and perspectives enriches a discussion and better positions an organization or group to make a decision. At the same time, such an inclusive approach to decision-making does not always end up at a common point. Mary recalled a time when an IRR tourism advisory committee was asked to take a position as a group and support the use of snowmobiles in Voyageur’s National Park. Mary noted that, as stakeholders discussed this proposal, it became clear there was no agreement to act as a group. Members could write letters as individuals, but not in the name of the organization. “Sometimes leadership is about discerning where we can not go.”

Mary doesn’t often need to discern where not to go. In nominating her as a leader making a difference, tribute was paid to “her ability to bring very diverse groups of people together to reach our common goals.” Those efforts have paid off in ways that directly benefit communities in the region. The work Mary has done through her office has also been recognized with several awards from Explore Minnesota Tourism as well as two National Associations (Government Communicators and Development Organizations). The awards were not for individual achievement but about the ability of people to form partnerships and accomplish objectives benefiting the entire region.

Mapping Assets, Mobilizing Resources
If leadership is about helping action happen, it is also about being alert to opportunities. In 2004, when Warner Brothers Pictures was looking at northeastern Minnesota to film the movie “North Country,” Mary proposed a point of purchase incentive to the studio whereby local businesses would offer Warner Brothers a large volume discount. That made the deal, bringing an estimated $3-5 million worth of business into the area plus expanding awareness of the region and its assets. Mary would say it’s her job to think up such ideas. Others claim it is her ability to lead in a way that benefits everyone.

While tourism is about attracting visitors to an area, it depends on the strength of the infrastructure to sustain it. One of Mary’s current concerns is the loss of small family resorts – northeastern Minnesota’s equivalent to family farms. The costs of meeting new requirements for environmental compliance exceed what many smaller, seasonal resorts can afford. “Eventually, only the wealthiest of people will be able to access one of our greatest natural resources.” She is coordinating efforts of resort owners and county commissioners to identify actions that will help those owners remain viable. The practical outcome of this initiative will be finding ways for small operators to continue to make a living doing what they love. The less tangible but nonetheless important outcome is hope.

There is a pattern to Mary’s leadership: she loves the region, is attentive to issues impacting those who live and work there, and builds networks of relationships around shared needs. By seeing the larger vision and directing skillful action toward its realization, Mary is a community leader who offers people a chance to create the future, to maintain their sense of place.