Morning Keynote: Kathy LaPlante, Senior Director of Coordinating Programs. Main Street America.

Kathy La Plante is the Senior Director of Coordinating Programs at the National Main Street Center/Main Street America, headquartered in Chicago. Kathy has over 30 years’ experience working with the Main Street programs on downtown and neighborhood commercial district revitalization. Working for the National Main Street Center, she provides training and technical services for cities of all sizes. Prior to this position, Kathy was the first Director of the New Hampshire Main Street Center for over 10 years, assisting 23 communities in initiating local Main Street programs in the state. Ms. La Plante began her Main Street career in 1989 as the Executive Director of the Chippewa Falls (Wisconsin) Main Street Program, a 1996 Great American Main Street Award winner that recognized the top five downtown revitalization programs in the country. Prior to Main Street, she managed Spurgeon’s Department stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Lunch Keynote: Dan Rivera, President, MassDevelopment

Dan Rivera comes to MassDevelopment after serving seven years as Mayor of the City of Lawrence, Mass. During his time as Mayor, the city saw significant commercial development, record new units of housing, and tens of millions of dollars invested in economic development planning and projects. Dan’s focus on economic and community development as Mayor included investments in housing, job creation, downtown redevelopment, transit-oriented development and equity, infrastructure, brownfields redevelopment, placemaking, and quality-of-life improvements, and establishing professional, transparent, modern, and streamlined permitting and licensing processes. an was an invaluable member of the Baker-Polito Administration’s Reopening Advisory Board, bringing the municipal viewpoint to the group tasked with developing the Commonwealth’s strategy to reopen the economy during COVID-19, and the COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group. In 2017, Governor Baker tapped Rivera to serve on the newly established Latino Advisory Commission charged with addressing concerns of the Massachusetts Latino community and promoting economic prosperity and well-being. Prior to his two terms as Mayor of Lawrence, Dan held various positions in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Dan is a veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served in the first Gulf War, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and a graduate of the UMass Amherst and Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management, where he earned his MBA.