Appointed in June 2024, Patricia Beard is the Interim Director of the Community and Economic Development Department. She is responsible for the development, administration, leadership, and implementation of the City’s strategies and programs for neighborhood revitalization and business assistance, business recruitment, retention and expansion, arts and cultural vitality, as well as housing initiatives and partnerships that increase equitable access to programs and resources for residents and businesses of Tacoma.
Pat has more than 34 years of community and economic development experience in the public and non-profit sectors. This experience has included leadership positions in non-profit and public agencies at the local and state levels. She has extensive experience in small business support, business retention and expansion, business attraction, environmental justice, maritime/ports, brownfields redevelopment, and placemaking. She has served in the Economic Development Services Division of the Community and Economic Development Department since 2013. As part of that role, Pat led the development of Tacoma’s Green Economic Development Strategy and served as the Department’s liaison to the Planning and Development Services Department.
Prior to her term in Tacoma, Pat served in managerial economic development positions for the cities of Chula Vista and National City, California, and with JobsOhio, a statewide non-profit. She also served as the Executive Director of the Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation of Cleveland and as Executive Director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and Portage County Visitors and Convention Bureau. A former Aurora, Ohio Board of Education member, she has also served on a wide variety of non-profit Boards, including most recently Washington Maritime Blue.
Pat’s work has garnered awards including the Phoenix Award for Brownfield Redevelopment, California Redevelopment Association Award of Excellence, Washington Economic Development Association Award of Excellence, Governor’s Smart Communities Award (WA), and the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Vision 2050 Award.
Pat resides in Tacoma.