Marketing required, Burke says

Spokane County doesn’t promote itself enough to the outside world, says Bill Burke.

He ought to know. Marketing is his business.

Whether it’s his annual Spokane food fest, Pig Out in the Park, the cities and counties he advises on issues of community development or even himself, Burke is all about promotion.

At his Spokane Valley home, a map covered with multicolored push pins identifies communities across the country that have consulted with Burke.

Now the Democrat wants to improve Spokane County as the new District 2 commissioner. Better marketing could really help the region flourish, Burke says.

“It is important that people understand how serious I am. We need to do this now,” he said, adding that despite its problems, Spokane’s beautiful landscape has a lot to offer businesses, tourists and residents.

Burke describes his life with a glass-half-full kind of optimism.

Even a serious accident 10 years ago left him feeling lucky to be alive rather than damaged.

A logging truck ran Burke and his wife, Desiree, off the road near Priest Lake.

Their blue heeler/yellow Lab mix, Dawber, pulled Desiree out of their truck and up to the road, where they were rescued.

Burke was seriously injured and taken by helicopter to Sacred Heart Medical Center. He doesn’t remember everything, but does remember talking to the helicopter pilot.

Music man

Burke met Desiree at Newport (Wash.) High School.

Desiree was a sophomore. Bill was the new guitar-playing senior.

Burke went on to graduate from Eastern Washington University with a degree in marketing, and the couple has a son who now attends Gonzaga University.

Music has been an important part of Burke’s life since he played guitar in his first band at age 12.

“I quickly learned that you either showed up with a glove or a guitar,” Burke said of efforts to make friends and meet girls.

He said that music helped him become more extroverted.

“You go into another personality when you go on stage,” Burke said.

Even now Burke uses music to bring people together at events like Pig Out in the Park.

He has a collection of more than 100 electric guitars and amplifiers, gathered as he traveled across the country for business.

His favorite is a 1954 Fender Esquire, bought 10 years ago in Florida.

He’s currently working with Spokane’s Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture to show part of his collection next year.

The exhibit will also feature historic photos and two George Harrison guitars from Seattle’s Experience Music Project, as well as Burke-produced concerts.

Burke’s been a promoter since age 11, when he put on a dance to raise money for his youth club.

Burke attended 27 different schools as his family moved around the world while his father helped rebuild Air Force hospitals.

Burke’s nomadic childhood has served him well professionally.

All of the moving around taught Burke how to quickly connect with people, a skill he now uses as he travels to different towns as a self-employed community development consultant.

Burke once managed Spokane’s downtown Retail Trade Bureau, a precursor to the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

He said he’s helped more than 1,000 communities with their revitalization efforts.

But Burke really wants to help Spokane.

“Every time I come back to Spokane I begin to feel the need is greater here than when I left,” he said.

Building community

Burke’s already helped build the community with the events he’s organized, including Pig Out and the American Music Festival, said friend and colleague Don Hamilton

Hamilton cites Burke’s efforts with the not-for-profit Six Bridges Arts Association as a prime example.

“There was never any money in that for him, but he did it for the festivals and music it gave to the community,” Hamilton said.

After Burke and the Six Bridges group had run Spokane’s Fourth of July celebration for eight years, the Spokane Park Board put the city’s Riverfront Park celebration out to public bid in 2002, saying that they wanted to make sure they were exploring all their options.

Burke balked.

Insulted that the city didn’t just ask him to continue planning and promoting the American Music Festival, he refused to submit a bid.

It’s a sore subject even today.

Some say that Burke is too invested in his events and takes any criticism directed at them too personally.

But Burke’s promotion of his commissioner candidacy at this year’s Pig Out in the Park celebration, including advertising on stage banners and volunteers’ T-shirts, prompted criticism from Spokane City Councilman Brad Stark at a Park Board meeting.

“I just felt that his behavior and activity down there was inappropriate,” Stark said.

But Burke’s friends and supporters say he’s a man deeply committed to helping the community, whether it be small businesses or residents.

Pig Out in the Park is a good example of Burke’s ability to entertain and support local restaurateurs, said Kris Ritchie, co-owner of Mary Lou’s Homemade Ice Cream.

Without the annual event it would be a struggle to pay the bills, said Ritchie, who explained that Mary Lou’s makes enough at Pig Out to get through the slow winter months.

Burke has done whatever it takes to make the event work for participating vendors, she said.

“He’s so good with people. He has great communication skills,” Ritchie said.