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ABOUT COMMUNITY PLAYMAKER

Community Playmaker is a platform dedicated to providing ideas and solutions for visionary community leaders, AKA “Playmakers”.  These are the mayors, city council members, city/county administrators, and their teams who use their time, talent, and resources to do great things in their community. Public service is hard. Being a Playmaker is even harder.

Our mission: to inspire the next great American community

Consider what makes a community a ‘good’ place to live: public safety, quality of schools, decent public transportation, and housing opportunities. But what makes a community a GREAT place to live? We believe it’s a thriving economy, high quality of life, places to play and recreate, opportunities to engage in music, and art, and develop culture, and a sense of place. With a nod to the Jim Collins book “Good to Great”, we are focused on helping local government leaders take their communities from good to great.

"Through Playmaker, we have the opportunity to celebrate the hard work and share success stories of public servants who use their power, position, and privilege to improve the lives of their local residents in meaningful ways."

-Ashley Whittaker, Editor in Chief, Community Playmaker

Community Playmaker is a subsidiary of The Sports Facilities Companies (SFC). SFC was founded in 2003 and their team has spent the last 20 years serving local government leaders, economic developers, and parks professionals in their sports, recreation, and community master planning projects. The firm has served more than 2,000 communities in that time and is widely considered a thought leader in the space. Today, the firm operates more than 40 properties on behalf of municipal owners and hosts more than 25 million guest visits annually.

The Community Playmaker team has experience in state and local government, parks and recreation, economic development, youth and amateur sports, project finance, community planning and feasibility, and public-private partnerships. We leverage this cumulative experience to direct editorial content, our staff writers, and event planning. 

"Our goal is to create inspiring content for government leaders by government leaders. One of the tenants of our brand is to always include the voice of local government."

-Johnny Crosskey, Managing Editor, Community Playmaker
Ashley Whittaker

Ashley Whittaker
Editor In Chief

Johnny Circle Image

Johnny Crosskey
Managing Editor

Josie Tomkow

Josie Tomkow
Government Relations

Mike Kelly

Mike Kelly
Community Engagement

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Community Playmaker is a platform dedicated to providing solutions and ideas for visionary local government leaders, AKA ‘Playmakers’.

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features

Detroit’s Comeback Story

USL and the Soccer Surge: What the Growth of the Game Means for Cities

Hoover’s Home Run

  • 3 Grants to Help Close the Digital Divide
  • Will The Pickleball Bubble Burst?
  • From Brownfield To Brewery: How Delaware Is Revitalizing Through Redevelopment

playmakers

Standing Tall- Mayor Steven Reed, Montgomery, Alabama

Next Generation Mayor: Peter Urscheler of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

A Work of Art

  • Mayor Stan Hogeland – City Of Gardendale, AL
  • Glenn Weiss – Boynton Beach, FL

Community spotlight

Dumfries, VA, Dreams Big

Austin, TX: Balancing Boom With Culture

High Tee

  • What Makes Naples The Pickleball Capital Of The World?
  • How One YouTuber Transformed A Small Town Through Quilting

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