Congratulations to Ellen Martignetti Recipient of the James K. Boyer Quality of Life Award

from the Expression staff

Being named as the recipient of the James K. Boyer Quality of Life Award came as a surprise to Ellen Martignetti, Building a Better Boyertown’s Main Street Manager. Ellen expressed appreciation, saying, "I am honored to be awarded in this way." But she is is quick to add that she enjoys working with a team of people  who contribute to making Boyertown better. "What  I like most about my job is the people that I have met along the way, who are also passionate about Boyertown."

But finding the right puzzle piece is Ellen’s favorite part of the job, and she’s not shy about her mission to put the puzzle together--placing the right pieces in the perfect spaces! 

Ellen was a guest on the "B Inspired" podcast in April 2023. You can find her episode on Spotify here: Ellen Martignetti

She was featured in an article in The Boyertown Area Expression. The article is replicated below: 
https://boyertownareaexpression.town.news/node/140636/edit

Ellen Martignetti, Building a Better Boyertown’s Main Street Manager, describes her job finding people and bringing businesses to Boyertown as completing a giant puzzle.

There's a lot going on in Boyertown these days: Oktoberfest. Coming Out of Hibernation. Chillin' on Main. HERstory. The Farmer's Market and a variety of community festivals and events are often hosted by Building a Better Boyertown (BaBB), a nonprofit PA Main Street program.

And juggling these assorted projects and responsibilities--the fun stuff like dancing at Oktoberfest, the organization's signature event, and the serious stuff like researching and preparing grant applications to keep the organization's events and activities funded--is often overwhelming and falls on the shoulders of the Main Street Manager.

Ellen describes her job as completing a giant puzzle, one that requires her to search carefully for just the right person to head up or volunteer for a project or just the right retail business to fill an available spot on the main street to attract shoppers. Finding the right puzzle piece is Ellen’s favorite part of the job, and she’s not shy about her mission to put the puzzle together.

“I share with new owners of store front properties that we really want to keep at least part of their first floor—the piece that faces the street especially—as retail space if they can manage it,” she explains.

"I work with amazing people, an active and supportive Board, and a crew of highly dedicated volunteers. All are pieces of the puzzle."

Designing spaces is a lifelong hobby and career. Her degree in interior design led to a job designing spaces. But even as a young girl Ellen was designing spaces. “My friends and I made ‘leaf houses’ in my parents’ front yard. We’d rake leaves in piles to outline the ‘blueprint’ of our fantasy homes,” she shares. “I was pretty fastidious about getting our lines straight. We left spaces for doorways and such so that we could ‘see’ the flow of the space. We’d pull out furniture for our living room and ‘decorate’ the space. It always looked like we were having a yard sale,” she adds.

Ellen developed her yen for design in accompanying her father who enjoyed visiting model homes when he wasn’t running his diner. She collected the folders that contained floor plans and could recognize which designs she preferred by the flow of the space.

And she knew early on that while her sisters mastered accounting, her heart was in the arts. “I was always drawing; I drew classroom floor plans and had an eye for 3D, the elevation in a plan. Ellen designed the renovation of the BaBB office adding light to the dark, cavernous space—transforming it into an attractive, usable space.

Ellen says she came to Boyertown when she married John. Although both Drexel graduates, they met “on the job.” “John had already purchased our home in the area, so I married John and the house,” she offers.

Husband John owns his own construction business and “can do anything, he’s an artist in his own right,” Ellen claims. He calls on her when an interior design is needed; she relies on him to turn her design plans into a reality. “But we measure differently: my measurements are precise; his are ‘ballpark.’”

Putting her career on hold to raise her three children, twins Bryan and Daniel and her youngest Audrey, allowed her time to volunteer in a variety of capacities for BaBB. “When Charles Haddad learned of my background, he invited me to join the Design Committee and then the Tree Committee,” she notes. “He puts puzzles together too!”

Ellen has since served as board member, secretary, and assumed the Main Street Manager’s position in 2022—a position that comes with her passion for the Boyertown community. She’s not going anywhere and happy that her sons live local.

Creativity runs through the entire family—perhaps as a result of a childhood when craft projects were the focus of family time. Her sons felt called to work as auto mechanical technicians for Patriot Buick/GMC in Gilbertsville. She marvels at their “creativity” that surfaced early.

One son became a devoted Lego builder. The other she remembers as a toddler turning the light switch on and off—watching him “discover” that turning the switch controlled the light. “I loved watching his young mind figure things out!”Daughter Audrey attends Rochester Institute of Technology studying art.

Ellen’s future goals for Boyertown continue to be finding the right people to fit the right space, enhancing the businesses in town, encouraging collaboration and consistency so that people who come to town will find the doors of unique retail shops, galleries, and museums open and welcoming.

“We want them to come to Boyertown, shop in Boyertown, stay in Boyertown. The unexpected benefit of COVID was that it brought people home and interested in supporting their hometowns,” she shares. “It’s our job to honor that interest and commitment—to make our puzzle whole!”

We congratulate Ellen on receiving this recognition for her tireless efforts--with her team--in building a better Boyertown. No one is more deserving! Brava! 

Criteria for nominations include:

• Businesses or organizations must have operations within the Boyertown Area School District.
• The nominees shall be recognized for improvements to their properties which demonstrate an investment in the future of their community.
• The nominees may be cited for business accomplishments, civic or volunteer efforts.
• The nominees may be recognized regionally or nationally for their chosen line of profession.
• The nominees shall be active members, in good standing, of TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce
~ Criteria from  Harrison Santangelo, Executive Director of the TriCounty Chamber of Commerce

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