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July 23, 2012

Randy and Shari Fiveash market Connecticut

Photo / Pablo Robles Shari & Randy Fiveash market Connecticut from their roles in South Windsor and the state Office of Tourism.

Shari and Randy Fiveash make it their business to bring business to Connecticut.

Connecticut's marketing power couple focuses on tourism, economic development, industry growth, and bringing in new revenue to the state.

“The bottom line is helping businesses grow and prosper,” Shari Fiveash said.

Randy Fiveash works on the state level, as the director of the Connecticut Office of Tourism.

Shari Fiveash works on the local level as executive director of the South Windsor Chamber of Commerce and by performing economic development work for the Town of South Windsor.

“Whatever we do, we want to leave it better than we found it,” Randy Fiveash said. “Both of us have been doing it for as long as we have because we love what we do.”

The duo performed similar roles in Kentucky less than four years ago but brought their services to Connecticut for a chance to live somewhere new, do something different and be closer to family.

Randy Fiveash, a native of Georgia, worked in the convention and visitor bureau business for 27 years before becoming Kentucky's commissioner of tourism.

Shari Fiveash, who grew up in Missouri, worked in the business and economic development field for decades, heading chambers of commerce in places such as Branson, Mo. and Lexington, Ky.

When the Connecticut tourism director job opened up, he applied for the position, in part because the couple never had lived in New England. Shari Fiveash's mother had recently died, and she wanted to be closer to her sister in Washington, D.C.

“It is kind of a big deal,” she said.

He moved into Connecticut and his new position in November 2008, traveling back and forth to Kentucky while she stayed behind to sell their house. She moved to Connecticut in 2009, initially working as a consultant for Norwich, the United Way, and a church in Wethersfield before applying for the South Windsor Chamber of Commerce position.

“In Shari, we saw someone that could raise the South Windsor chamber to the next level and also look at regional issues,” said Peter DeMaille, chairman of the executive selection committee for the South Windsor chamber. “She had taken the Lexington chamber that had great growth opportunities and realized that potential.”

Since heading the South Windsor chamber on Dec. 1, 2010, Shari Fiveash has increased membership, programming and the revenue base, DeMaille said.

“Our expectations were very high for her, and she met or exceeding our expectations early on,” DeMaille said.

Randy Fiveash's latest focus as state tourism director is Gov. Dannel Malloy's new “Still Revolutionary” marketing campaign. The effort aims to increase the number of out-of-state visitors to the various attractions, which will help business and bolster the economy.

“We are one of the few parts of state government that makes money for the state and can prove it,” he said.

The campaign is quite the switch from his first three years on the job, where former Gov. M. Jodi Rell slashed the state marketing budget to a single dollar.

“The foresight of what Governor Malloy and the legislature have done is amazing to make sure the tourism industry is well-funded,” Randy Fiveash said. “It is all about jobs, about creating economic development and creating economic impact.”

As part of their efforts to bring businesses and people into Connecticut, the couple makes it a point to visit as many Connecticut attractions as possible. One of their favorite places is Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale in Madison and Westbrook.

“The water is huge,” Shari Fiveash said. “The coastline is very big for me.”

The couple lives in the Bushnell on the Park high-rise in Hartford, a couple blocks from where Randy works at Constitution Plaza. They've been married for 10 years.

They have three children. Randy has a son, Chad Fiveash, 41, who works as a screenwriter and lives in Studio City, Calif. with his wife and daughter. Shari Fiveash has a daughter, Jenifer Thomas, 24, who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a son. Ian Thomas, 20, who attends the University of Missouri.

With the children grown, the couple figure they can move around more freely and live where they choose to. That attitude brought them from Kentucky to Connecticut.

“It is a new challenge and a new opportunity,” Randy Fiveash said.

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