A new face will be helping with Starkville's community events.
The Greater Starkville Development Partnership announced on Thursday that Starkville native Paige Watson will be the next special events and projects coordinator for the GSDP.
Her first day on the job will be Monday.
Watson will be in charge of establishing and overseeing multiple special events for the GSDP in her new role.
Through her job, she will support the education and sustainability of Starkville's business community and help showcase its creative scenes.
"I'm really honored," Watson told the SDN. "I'm passionate about Starkville. I feel like I owe everything to this community, our school district, and our amazing university, so I'm really excited it worked out."
Watson is a 2009 honors graduate of Starkville High School and a graduate of Mississippi State University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in communication with a concentration in public relations in 2013.
Watson continued her education at the University of Alabama, where she received a master's in advertising and public relations.
Watson has interned with the Country Music Association in Nashville and for Kleinfield Bridal in Manhattan.
She has worked with MSU as the communication specialist for the College of Education since 2015.
CEO Scott Maynard said the GSDP is excited to invite Watson to the GSDP team and have a full staff.
"Her background and skill set will be an asset to this position," Maynard said. "She will do an excellent job making Starkville a better place to live, work, play and learn."
Previous special events and projects coordinator Jennifer Prather was named the GSDP's director of tourism in August. Prather said she believes Watson will be a great asset to the GSDP's team.
"Her well-rounded ability to do event planning, graphic design, and her understanding of marketing and public relations, we can really capitalize on as we seek to promote Starkville even better than we do, now," Prather said.
The first city-wide event Watson will be helping with planning will be Pumpkinpalooza on Oct. 13, the city-wide fall celebration held in downtown Starkville each year.