Education: Bachelor’s degrees in political science and public relations with a minor in management from the University of Southern Indiana.
Resume: Annual fund and grants coordinator, The Arc of Evansville, 2009-2010; annual giving officer, University of Southern Indiana Foundation, 2010-2014; annual giving and grants coordinator/major gifts coordinator, Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Foundation, 2014-2018; marketing and events director, DOWNTOWN EVANSVILLE – Economic Improvement District, 2018-present.
Hometown: Chrisney, Indiana
Marketing and events director Adam Trinkel works alongside President Josh Armstrong and marketing and events coordinator Alli Turpin at the Downtown Evansville – Economic Improvement District to meet their goals for an inclusive, interactive Downtown.
Downtown Evansville operates within the boundaries of the Lloyd Expressway, Riverside Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Cherry Street. In its fourth of 10 years of guaranteed funding from property owners, Downtown Evansville has provided Trinkel the opportunity to benefit his community in new ways.
“The consistent theme throughout my professional career is the relationship building and community work,” the 34-year-old says. “We always say we’re in the memory-making business Downtown. We’re proud of our work and our efforts to make Downtown an active and inclusive place where everyone feels welcome.”
Downtown Evansville is run by a team of three. How does this differ from your work with larger institutions?
We have a small but mighty team, along with a committed board of directors and a dedicated core group of volunteers. I’ve learned to be flexible at all times and be adaptable, particularly in event situations where things are constantly changing.
One of the most appealing aspects of the role with the EID was to help build something from the ground up. This position provided me with the unique opportunity to constantly grow and try new things, from directing the development of our brand, including the logo, to creating and implementing new events to bring people to our Downtown.
What are your favorite parts about the work you’ve done with Downtown Evansville?
I enjoy working with all of the Downtown property owners. Each of them has their own unique connections to Downtown and helping to tell their collective story is very rewarding.
A favorite part too would be seeing an event come together; seeing people happy, seeing people Downtown interacting with their peers, that’s one of the coolest things about Downtown since I’ve been here. I love when people are excited about what we’re doing.
Last year was challenging in a number of ways — COVID-19 forced us to adapt since we weren’t able to host our large events. The social unrest with the tragic killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and countless other Black people also guided certain aspects of our work. One thing that I was really proud of our organization for doing was organizing and hosting a special event to highlight 26 local Black makers and artisans from our community. We paired them with our existing retail locations in an effort to elevate and expand their platforms.
While your day-to-day work focuses on events, what about your role allows you to dive deeper into the Downtown community?
We talk about how Downtown really is a neighborhood. One of the big things as an organization that we can do is make a continued effort to focus on the ongoing growth of Downtown. For our organization that means the continued advocacy for more development projects, such as housing. More housing leads to more residents, which leads to more retail and restaurants.
I find our work to be very rewarding. Often times I have to take a step back and think about how impactful our work is and how much it speaks to everybody in the community.
