As Community Development Manager for the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (PACVB), Kaci Osborne works to create economic growth through sales and marketing efforts to bring sporting events, meetings and conventions, and leisure tourists to the region. She takes the lead on event creation and development, motor coach tour sales, community relations and destination enhancement, working to attract visitors to the Peoria area and showcase all it has to offer.
Among her accomplishments, Osborne co-created the IGNITE Peoria showcase of local art and creativity, which had triple the projected attendance in its first year, and coordinated a bus route for arts patrons on First Fridays. She organized Mardi Gras in May on the Peoria riverfront, identifying opportunities for sponsors, coordinating volunteers, and recruiting performing artists both locally and nationally. Osborne regularly attends trade shows to advocate for Peoria with bus tour operators and travel writers, and she produces and stars in the PACVB’s YouTube series “Tourin’ the Town,” which showcases local artists, businesses and special events.
While her job duties go hand-in-hand with community service, Osborne finds still other ways to contribute to the region. She serves on the board of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and is chair of the Young Professionals of Greater Peoria, co-chairing its Community Connection Committee. She is a member of the Children’s Hospital of Illinois Development Committee, co-president of the H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Patients Everyday) Committee and event lead for the Fight to the Finish Extreme 5k, coordinating volunteers to raise funds for Children’s Hospital. In addition, she lends her event planning expertise to a variety of Easter Seals fundraisers, and serves on the Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway Board and Pekin’s Tourism Committee.
A recipient of the Peoria Jaycees’ 2015 Prescott E. Bloom Distinguished Service Award, Osborne enjoys cooking, reading, traveling and being active outdoors. iBi
