MONTPELIER — Gov. Phil Scott and Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Michael Schirling late last week announced the appointment of Wendy Knight of Panton as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. 
Knight, a longtime Addison County resident, joins the department from the private sector. Through her own marketing and communications firm, Knight and Day Communications, she developed strategic communications and marketing campaigns for a variety of international clients based in London, New York, Spain and Italy, as well as Vermont organizations. Her Vermont clients included the Vermont Grape and Wine Council, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Knight is a former New York Times freelance writer who has written two travel books and produced online travel videos for ABC News Now.
“We are very excited to have Wendy join the team,” said Gov. Scott. “Her wealth of marketing and communications expertise will be valuable as we work to market Vermont as a place to visit, live and do business. Wendy’s broad business background and appreciation of Vermont will be a tremendous asset in promoting the State to strengthen our economy.”
Secretary Schirling was equally excited about Knight’s appointment.
“I’m pleased to welcome Wendy to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development,” he said. “Wendy has a long history of representing Vermont organizations, and is highly respected within the tourism industry, inside and outside of Vermont. As a small business owner, she understands the importance of economic development to the state, and the vital role that tourism plays in driving economic growth.”
Knight has also served as a senior managing director for a 32-employee marketing agency in New York, director of public relations for an international culinary school, and acting executive director for CIGNA HealthCare of Northern New England. She intends to apply her experience in strategic thinking and managing people and processes to the Commissioner position.
“I’m honored to join Gov. Scott’s team to help strengthen the economy for Vermonters,” said Knight. “I am eager to begin the work of promoting Vermont, her people and industries, and to deepen one of the most recognizable brands in the country — the Vermont brand.”
Knight, who has lived in Vermont since 1992, is a former Panton selectboard member and board chair of the Friends of the Vergennes Opera House that was a catalyst for the downtown revitalization of Vergennes. She graduated from Cornell University in 1987.