Gayenell Gentelia of Kalkaska Downtown Development Authority
DNA of the DDA
As DDA Associate Director, Gayenell Gentelia is committed to building a stronger Kalkaska community for its residents
Hailing from San Jose, California, and the corporate world, Gayenell Gentelia is miles away from where she first started. After working in human resources for 30 years, she retired from her corporate career and moved with her Michigander husband to Northern Michigan, settling in Kalkaska.
Gayenell intended to spend her free time volunteering and enjoying a slower pace. But two years into retirement, she says her brain was mush. Not one to sit still for long, Gayenell began working part time for the Village of Kalkaska answering phones. “It was really just to get out of the house,” she says. The part-time gig led her to an opportunity with the Kalkaska DDA, where she began working for Executive Director Cash Cook and eventually moved into a full-time position as the Downtown Development Authority Associate Director.
A decade into her second act, Gayenell continues to hone her previous HR skills of developing people and forging relationships to build up the Kalkaska community. That includes working with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) Regional Development team to secure funding opportunities, including a $3.4 million grant to repurpose an abandoned lumber yard into a multi-purpose pavilion and gathering space called Railroad Square.
On life in Northern Michigan:
When the housing market turned in 2008, we decided to purchase our retirement home. We had some criteria, and we landed in Kalkaska. We didn't know anyone here, but we just really loved the area, and we wanted to be in Northern Michigan. I think Kalkaska is a gem for our community. One of the things is that our community of Kalkaska is very vocal, and we use that to help us determine what our future is going to look like. The people care about the community, and they want to stay on top of the direction that it goes. That is very meaningful to us.
On the work of the Kalkaska DDA:
Every day is different. We have a strategic plan with six pillars that we continue to focus on. But really, our day-to-day could be different depending on how someone walks through the door. We are very community-oriented, but we're also very business-oriented. There could be an opportunity that comes when we get a phone call and have a prospective employer who would really like to know what we have available for them to move to our small, rural area. Those things really take precedence. The day-to-day is working on projects. We have some major projects we're working on now, including finishing up a trailhead. Recently, a business contacted me and needed us to help find some façade improvement funds, so I spent time researching façade improvement funds that I could help her apply to for support to help her improve some of the things that are going on with her building. It's really a mixed bag of things, depending on what comes up that day. But every day is always about community engagement, business engagement and project management.
On her relationship with the MEDC and its support of Railroad Square:
We are huge fans of the MEDC. Back when we started the project for Railroad Square, our biggest barrier for funding was that we fell off the low- to moderate-income list. It took about 12 months to redo the survey and get back on the list, and within two days of that Dan Leonard from the MEDC reached out to us to talk about the Railroad Square project. We talked about putting in a community space that the community would be proud of.
We thought we were going to have to phase this in, but Dan and the MEDC guided us from start to finish on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) process and advocated for our community at the state level to help get the grant. Kalkaska was on the verge of becoming a thriving community, we just needed a little bit of help.
We were able to get a $3.4 million CDBG grant, and we completed Railroad Square ahead of schedule in Spring 2021. That spring, due to the COVID pandemic gathering restrictions, high schools around the area contacted us and asked if Railroad Square could be used for their proms. We ended up having two proms and another high school dance at Railroad Square that year, so our local students didn’t have to miss out. We were able to meet that need, which was priceless for the community, and the MEDC helped make that happen.
On how she spends her time outside of the DDA:
In my personal life, I'm a pretty busy person. I help foster children, and I’m a Big for Big Brothers Big Sisters at the local middle school. I also volunteer in the community; for example, I'm a Kalkaska Kiwanian, on the National Trout Festival board, a member of Impact100 Traverse City, which is an organization that serves the five-county area in helping provide $100,000 grants to the nonprofits within our region, the Kalkaska Memorial Health Center Hospital Board, a township trustee and on our township Fire & Rescue Board. Thanks to my husband, I am able to devote so much of my time volunteering in these roles. I truly am very blessed that I love my job. I love that we are making a difference in the community, at that macro level. But I also am in the trenches, enjoying my personal life in the community, and helping impact one person at a time.
Learn how the MEDC is helping to support Michigan communities like Kalkaska.