Lake County >> The county’s new Administrative Analyst has big plans. Improved marketing, a cohesive event listing, interactive online content, a partnership with Marymount California University — these are just a few of the improvements Tiffany Harz has in mind to really put Lake County on the map. She’s also focusing in on the anglers, a huge pool of untapped marketing potential.
As a former office manager with the University of California Cooperative Extension, Harz worked under Greg Giusti, who is heavily involved with the county’s fishing industry. He’s expressed dissatisfaction — rightfully so, Harz pointed out — with the lack of marketing aimed at one of the biggest tourist draws around. So Harz will be hitting up local businesses soon, to talk with them about ways in which they can make their establishment more fishing-friendly. “I’m really excited to take our marketing theme in a new direction with welcoming the fishermen,” Harz said.
She’s also working on a re-branding of sorts. For years Lake County has been pushed as the next Napa and the next wine country. “They wanted to get so far removed from Lake County poverty that I feel like it was a little bit of misrepresentation,” Harz expressed.
While the local wineries are as picturesque as those in Napa, and they can certainly compete, there’s no denying that Lake County is rough around the edges. Harz wants to make that part of the marketing strategy. When tourists come, they should know they’re in for an adventure and they should be prepared to encounter people who are genuine, people who are not trying to be anyone but themselves.
After all, it was that authenticity that kept drawing Harz to Lake County.
A Southern California native, Harz has jumped from place to place since graduating from the University of Portland, where she played basketball on a scholarship and studied theater and English. She departed Oregon for Kentucky, where she resided for five years. When her sister called her up in desperate need of a manager to run her Ukiah gym, Mendocino Stars Gymnastic Facility, Harz was thrilled for the chance to leave the south behind.
Although she loved Ukiah, after a year she was ready for some traveling, and so she did a four-month stint in Hawaii before moving back home to Los Angeles. At one point she also spent three months living in Serbia with her best friend.
In 2012 Harz made her first move to Lake County. Though she left after a year to head back down south, she couldn’t seem to stay away. A year later she bought a house in Lucerne, scored a job with the UC Cooperative Extension, and has been living on the lake — and loving it — for the two years since.
“I came back up here because the people are just so genuine up here. Nobody that you meet in Lake County is thinking about the next thing. It’s just a different mentality,” she said. “It’s sort of a survivors’ mentality … ‘what’s going to complete my existence tomorrow’ instead of ‘what car am I going to upgrade to?’”
Not long after moving to Lake County for the second time, Harz decided to pursue her MBA at Marymount California University in Lucerne. She has only two semesters to go until she receives her degree.
Harz loved her work with the Cooperative Extension, and she would have been happy to stay there for years to come, but when she was approached for the Administrative Analysis position with the county, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. “It’s one thing to sit and complain about stuff in the county and it’s another thing to be in a position where I can actually make a difference. And this is it, this is a position that I am able to really apply more of my talents,” she said. “Not that I wasn’t applying my talents as an office manager, but the reach didn’t go as far as in this position. I’ve already done more in this position than I could have ever done in that other position.”
And though marketing is a significant aspect of Harz’s job, it’s not all she’s doing. Right now she’s working on a presentation regarding the budgeting of the county’s marijuana ordinances, focusing on inclusion rather than exclusion. She sees huge economic potential in that area and is zeroing in on the topic. With the economic impact from the fires and increasing gas tax, the county has been hit hard lately. Her mind is on the big picture, on how she can help the county as a whole.
Meanwhile, she continues to move forward on marketing plans with the help of Tony Barthel, who has a finger on the pulse of the county, and Barbara Clark, who is big in the performing arts scene. With a focus on moving everything in-house (many of the county blogs are currently managed by outside parties) and compiling a single listing of events, Barthel will be handling much of the blogging. And Clark will be an invaluable asset when it comes to filming online content.
Harz may be brimming with optimism, but she’s not without a dose of realism. She knows that elevating Lake County to it’s full potential will take time and diligence. “It’s okay if we don’t get it right, we probably wont, but we’re trying and we’re going to try again and we’re going to get closer,” she said. “We’re going to be successful, because people are going to come here because it’s gorgeous. That’s why I came here.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
