The City of Crookston officially hired its first Marketing and Event Coordinator in the city’s history on April 1, 2024. The City of Crookston now introduces Keenan Devier as the newest addition to the staff.
Devier spent much of his childhood in Georgetown, Minnesota, and later moved to Devils Lake, North Dakota. Devier ultimately graduated from Lakota High School in North Dakota and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota in Business and Administration/Marketing 2020.
Devier began his marketing journey with an internship at UND through their marketing department, where he managed social media accounts and worked on general administrative tasks for the department. “Having a marketing internship during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Devier, “And trying how to develop content from my dorm room was interesting. But that was one of my earliest experiences in this field.”
After college, Devier accepted a marketing and sales position with IHeart Media in Grand Forks, where he worked with local businesses and advertising through radio, social media, digital display, and email services.
Devier has visited Crookston on various occasions before accepting the city’s new marketing position. His sister was a 2022 UMC graduate, and Devier could see everything Crookston had to offer when visiting. “I got to know the community from visiting her,” said Devier, “Also from moving her in and out every August. But I got to know the campus at that point. Spending time with her in Crookston during those four years I got to know the area fairly well for someone that hasn’t lived in the community. I still need to learn a lot about the community, but spending these last couple weeks in Crookston, I feel that I’ve learned a lot.”
Devier has formulated a three-month plan to help establish his role within the city. One of the most significant issues the town has faced is the accessibility and visibility of the city website, which Devier is working tirelessly to improve. “The website is not as modern as it needs to be,” said Devier, “It needs updated information, and it needs to have a full turnaround. It just needs to be reworked.”
Along with the website improvements, Devier explained that promoting city events and showing the efforts of local entities to bring the community together during gatherings are among many of his goals as the City Marketing/Event Coordinator.
