Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity (SHOP) has selected Melissa Lopata of Newtown as the marketing coordinator for Sandy Hook Village. Ms Lopata will be introduced at the Sandy Hook Village Action Planning Workshop on Wednesday, March 12.

Ms Lopata moved to Newtown in 2011 from Brooklyn and is working as a part-time marketing consultant for Two Coyotes Wilderness School in Newtown, a nonprofit organization focused on helping children and families build relationships to nature, people, and purpose through mentorship and immersive outdoor experiences.

She will utilize the new Sandy Hook Community Brand Identity Guidelines and tools to create powerful and effective marketing pieces for Sandy Hook Village businesses, and will manage SHOP’s new website and expand the use of social media to help current merchants succeed and to attract new business to the area.

She will begin her new post on March 17.

Ms Lopata is a former marketing vice president at a Fortune 500 company specializing in event planning, as well as direct and niche marketing.

She has created successful innovative, strategic multimedia acquisition and retention campaigns for high-profile clients, including AT&T, Bank of America, Citigroup, Zocor, Sears, and JCK Jewelry, and Spa/Medi-Spa events. She also spent many years at top-drawer New York City ad agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam (The Bravo Group), and Draft Worldwide, where she learned the importance of building personal relationships with a market and developed strategies for creating those kinds of relationships.

Ms Lopata is also co-founder of Momasphere, an up-and-coming organization that creates innovative events and programs for moms of all ages, while also giving back to the community. As a new mom, she developed a strong interest in social media, seeing it as a way to communicate with other new moms who have limited time.

“Melissa Lopata is uniquely qualified as the point person who will establish relationships with business owners, helping them to tell their unique stories through our new branding and marketing program. We look forward to introducing Melissa to the community,” said Mike Burton, president of SHOP.

In 2013, the Town of Newtown selected a team organized by Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC) to coordinate an economic recovery consultancy for Sandy Hook Village.

CMSC is collaborating with Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville, S.C., and with NetMark Associates of Canton, to work closely with the town and with SHOP to examine the market for Sandy Hook Village for shopping, dining, and gathering, to engage more people to come to Sandy Hook, and to craft a marketing and promotion toolkit for the village to better share its assets with residents, visitors, and investors.

The goal is to assist Sandy Hook Village businesses and property owners with short-term steps to market the community alongside long-term initiatives to foster continued economic activity and investment in Sandy Hook Village.

For more information on the Sandy Hook Market Study and Community Branding Program, visit ctmainstreet.org/our-communities/sandy-hook-village.