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The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center has hired Jane Pederson Jandl as its new associate director of sales.
Jandl will oversee revenue development and manage key client relationships for events booked within an 18-month window. Her portfolio will include association, corporate and regional business events, along with weddings.
Jandl has held a series of sales and marketing roles in Duluth’s tourism and hospitality sector. She began her career in business-to-business development, where she became a top producer and built a reputation for converting prospects into long-term clients.
Her work later expanded at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Glensheen Mansion, where she helped launch a new group sales strategy and increased event revenue through outreach and relationship-building. She went on to hold marketing leadership roles at Glensheen, the DECC and Wild State Cider, creating campaigns and materials that supported significant revenue growth.
Most recently, Jandl served as director of marketing at Wild State Cider, contributing to year-over-year net sales increases. During her previous tenure as digital marketing director at the DECC, she helped develop initiatives that generated about $1 million in new revenue.
Jandl holds degrees in communication and psychology from the University of Minnesota Duluth. She has served on several local boards and was named a Duluth News Tribune 20 Under 40 honoree.
The DECC includes 10 venues that host conventions, meetings, sports, arts and entertainment on the Duluth waterfront in Canal Park. It is home to the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Ballet, UMD men’s and women’s hockey, the Duluth Curling Club, the Minnesota Monsters and the William A. Irvin floating museum.
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Azrin Awal’s four years on the Duluth City Council were defined not by volume, posturing or political theatrics — but by presence. Gracious, thoughtful, persistent presence. In a city government that often rewards the loudest voice in the room, she brought one of the softest and most effective.
Awal finishes her term the same way she entered it: under her own direction, with clarity about who she is and what matters most. She didn’t step aside because of scandal, political pressure, or shifting winds. She simply chose a season of service and honored it. That alone is a victory in the current climate.
During her time on the council, Awal widened the table. She reminded Duluth that representation isn’t about slogans; it’s about lived experience seated inside the decision-making process. She carried that responsibility without bravado, but with intention — and with a calm strength that influenced far more than any single vote tally could measure.
She championed issues that don’t always grab headlines: equity, access, belonging, and the subtle barriers that shape daily life for families and workers. Her priorities were often long-view, rooted in the belief that public service means making a city fairer and more navigable for people who don’t always get invited into the conversation. Duluth needed that voice, and she offered it with a steady hand.
What many appreciated was her respectful approach in challenging moments. She asked direct questions without turning debate into a spectacle. She disagreed without attacking. She listened — not as a pause before speaking, but as a genuine practice. It elevated the room.
Awal leaves office having proven that leadership can be authentic without being abrasive, that collaboration doesn’t require surrender, and that the work is bigger than the person doing it. She also made space for others — women, young professionals, immigrants, first-generation kids watching from afar — to see themselves in civic life.
When people say representation matters, they mean that someone like Azrin Awal can serve four years, serve them well, and walk away on her own terms — with her record intact, her integrity respected, and her future wide open.
Public service will take different shapes for her now. That’s the gift — she gets to decide what comes next. But whether she is leading from a podium or from the community rows, Duluth is better for her time on the council.
Some leaders leave with fanfare. Others leave with noise. Rare are the ones who leave with gratitude — theirs and ours.
Awal does.
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Every so often, a leadership hire in health care lands with more weight than the usual press release. Essentia Health’s decision to bring in Jerry Staley as its new chief human resources officer feels like one of those moments — not because of the title, but because of what he seems to understand about this region and the people who care for it.
Staley arrives with more than 30 years of HR leadership across large systems and public agencies. He’s run HR for Cook County Government in Illinois and helped guide a network of Chicago-area hospitals. That’s real experience. But what stood out wasn’t the resume. It was how quickly he connected with Essentia’s mission and the culture of the Upper Midwest.
“For me, joining Essentia Health is about more than a role; it’s about being part of an organization that lives its values and serves a part of the country I’ve always cherished,” he said. He didn’t read it like a script. He talked about Essentia’s mission “to make a healthy difference in people’s lives,” and the values — Quality, Hospitality, Respect, Joy, Justice, Stewardship and Teamwork — not as slogans but as real expectations.
That matters. Rural health care is stretched thinner than ever, and the systems that survive will be the ones that take care of their people. Essentia has nearly 16,000 employees across three states. Keeping that workforce engaged isn’t just an administrative challenge; it’s the whole ballgame.
“I think the biggest challenge in health care is also one of our greatest opportunities — building and sustaining a strong, engaged workforce,” Staley said. Anyone covering this industry knows he’s right. Burnout is real. Recruiting is a grind. The best professionals can go anywhere. The ones who stay do it because they believe in the place and the purpose.
“By continuing to focus on well-being, flexibility, career growth and recognition, we are creating workplaces where employees feel valued and energized,” he said. “When people thrive, patients and communities benefit, too.”
That’s straight out of the Dr. David Herman school of rural health leadership — purpose first, people always. Essentia has built its reputation on that. Staley now carries part of that load.
He also seems to appreciate the North in a way that aligns with the culture here. “Being from Illinois, there’s something about the people and the natural beauty up here that feels grounding and authentic,” he said. It’s the kind of comment you hear from people who don’t just want a job; they want a home.
And like a lot of us, he leans on the basics when he’s off the clock — family, football, reading, church, time outdoors. It tells you something about how he stays centered in a demanding field.
It’s early, of course. But if Essentia is going to continue leading in rural health care, its people have to feel seen, supported and valued. Staley talks like someone who knows that’s the real work.
Up here, that’s what earns trust. And trust, as always, is the most valuable resource in health care — especially in the places that depend on it most.
Howie, 71, is a veteran Duluth print journalist and publisher of HowieHanson.com, which he has operated for 21 years. He is the region’s first and only full-time online daily columnist, covering local news, politics, business, healthcare, education and sports with an independent, community-centered voice. Hanson has spent more than five decades reporting on issues that shape the Northland.
