Main Street Association selects new executive director

Brian Dutton has been named the new Rice Lake Main Street Association executive director and he says he has some new ideas to explore.

A former lawyer and legal consultant, Dutton originally comes from a small farm town near Peoria, Illinois. He became familiar with northern Wisconsin during the years his family vacationed near Hayward in the summers. When he quit practicing law, he and his son moved to a cabin near Winter. Then through basketball he got to know the northwestern area of the state and moved to Cumberland, where he coached basketball.

Now having lived in Rice Lake since last year, Dutton has taken on leadership of the Main Street Association, whose mission is to strengthen the downtown as the center of community life. He succeeds Jody Greiner, who has been co-directing the Association and Rice Lake Chamber of Commerce since July 2023.

Dutton said he wants to get out and meet people, and believes his background in law — 10 years as a lawyer and seven as a consultant — will come in handy with his new role.

Although he has some new ideas for the Main Street Association and downtown, Dutton first plans to build on the organization’s successes while he studies how best to move forward.

“What I’m trying to do is get to know all the business owners in the area, and really the community too, and kind of get an idea of what everybody would like to see,” he said.

Dutton welcomes the public to stop into his office at the Chamber of Commerce, 37 S. Main St., to meet him, give him a call at 715-234-5118 or email rlmainst@outlook.com.