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Making Old Saybrook Business Her Business

Old Saybrook prides itself on being a welcoming place for tourists and business alike. Part of that reputation can be traced to the work done by Susan “Susie” Beckman over the last nine years as the economic development coordinator for the town.

Susie started her job in 2013 and after nearly a decade resigned her position at the end of February.

“The town was a great place to work and was a great opportunity for me. It’s always hard to leave a place you felt fulfilled,” Susie says during a recent conversation with the Harbor News.

Susie first came to work for the town after several years as stay-at-home parent.

“I had started my career after college in Boston doing public relations work and then I did fundraiser work as well,” Susie recalls.

After she and her husband Phil got married and had kids, Susie paused her career to stay home with the kids. However, as they got older, she began looking to go back to work and noticed an opening in old Saybrook.

“It was just a gut reaction and my gut was saying this is what I wanted to do,” says Susie.

In her day-to-day work Susie says she covered a lot of different aspects and that the role shifted.

“It really developed over time as I was there,” says Susie.

As part of her job, Susie estimates she spent about “one third of my time working with the Economic Development Commission and implementing policies from them.”

She also served as a liaison between the town and the business community.

“We had some real success. We marketed the town to tourists, businesses in town, and the kinds of businesses we want to attract,” says Susie, noting that the Chamber of Commerce gave valuable support in that endeavor. “I could not have done the job I did without Judy Sullivan and her staff at the chamber.”

“There were so many good aspects,” Susie says of the role. “I like the projects that keep the town operating and working on policy pieces.”

As for individual projects that she enjoyed, Susie of course brings up major projects like Mariner’s Way redevelopment plan, the brownfield study, and the Starlight Festival, as well as smaller lesser-known projects.

“For example, I liked the Town Hall art hallways. It wasn’t a big project, but it provided space for artists to display their work,” Susie says, noting that it was a community project that included the help of several people to pull off.

“I also really liked the Starlight Festival we did this year brought people together after two years of COVID,” Susie says. “It’s a theme that I like and keep saying: I liked things that brought people together.”

According to Susie, in each of these events the town worked with a multitude of community groups who were eager to support the events. That level of commitment really stood out to her.

“That really was the beauty of working in Old Saybrook,” says Susie.

That’s not to say all of the word was easy and enjoyable.

“The hardest part was definitely COVID. Just having a hard time determining at the local level how to support businesses. They’re a big part of Old Saybrook and a strength of our local economy,” Susie says.

Susie says the town worked with the businesses and community groups to try to help the local businesses.

Susie’s last day with the town was Feb. 24. Susie sys an opportunity to work fulltime and in a new field for a marketing firm in Old Saybrook was too good an opportunity to pass up. Susie now works at Scierka–Lang Media Solutions, a job that allows her to use her marketing skills.

“It’s very unique and agile in how to advertises and how its marketing is approached for both large clients and small,” says Susie.

“It’s been great. It’s a lot to learn but I like it and part of the fun is since it’s in Old Saybrook I still get to see some of the people I worked with before,” says Susie.

Susie grew up in Burlington, Vermont and Colorado.

“Eventually I went to college in Boston and met my husband through friends. He was in the Navy and got stationed in Hawaii so I moved to Hawaii then California, then he got stationed in Groton,” explains Susie.

“As he kept getting jobs in Groton, we were able to stay in Connecticut and found we really loved it here so we stayed,” says Susie.

In her spare time Susie and her family like to “escape to New Hampshire” for ski trips or lake trips.

“My favorite thing about Old Saybrook was working with the people. Both the people in town and all the people in the community. I’ve been very fortunate to work with all tremendous people,” she sums up.