EDITORIAL: Quiet Architect of Success

EDITORIAL: Quiet Architect of Success

Newport today is a global destination for tourists. The seaside city is on that list with Monte Carlo, Positano, Charleston, South Carolina and a select group of others.

 

Rhode Island has not always been on that list.

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At times, in the past 50 years, Newport has been a little bit of Deadsville.

 

Success has clouded our memory. We forget that the Jazz Festival left Newport. For much of the decade of the 1970s, the Newport Jazz Festival was in New York City and Sarasota, New York.

 

But the resurrection of Newport over the past three-plus decades may have much more to do with a quiet man who lives in Jamestown than any of the millionaires and billionaires who drink at the Clarke Cook House or enjoy their exclusivity at Bailey’s Beach Club.

 

For 35 years at Discover Newport [nearly 20 as the CEO], Evan Smith has been a skillful director in helping to rebuild Newport’s economy and place as a destination for visitors from around the globe.

 

He is retiring.

 

In early 2025, Discover Newport will have a new leader.

 

We all owe Smith a mighty thank you for his leadership and efforts to balance the old and new Newport.

 

Kudos to Smith. Thank you.