CEDAR CITY — Cedar City celebrated two new employees earlier this month, saying goodbye to Events Director Brooke Twitchell and Economic Development Director Danny Stewart.

David S. Johnson will take the helm as economic development director, with Cedar City resident Brandon Burk becoming the events director. Both men introduced themselves at the Cedar City Council meeting on Oct. 11.

Cedar City Mayor Garth Green teased them about looking similar.

“Are they twins? They really could be,” he said.

“Well, being good-looking doesn’t just make you twins,” Johnson joked.

Married with four children, Johnson is an avid marathon runner and loves the outdoors. He was first introduced to the city in high school when his class attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

“It’s fun for me to be able to come to Cedar City professionally,” he said.

He’s worked in public relations, strategic planning and events, with experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors over the last 16 years. Johnson said for the last decade, he’s been focused on city management and economic development, serving as Blanding’s city manager for the last three.

“I guess I’m a glutton for punishment, but I liked the public service, and it’s been an honor to serve in a few different cities, and my family and I are most excited to come and serve here,” he said. “People come out of the woodwork … everybody tells us that that’s the perfect place to come raise our kids, especially for outdoorsy and artsy kind of people like us.”

The timing of the offer is “exciting,” Johnson told Cedar City News via email.

“Danny Stewart and City Officials have established fertile ground for economic opportunities that will benefit the residents of Cedar City and Iron County for years to come,” he wrote. “I am excited to be a part of that!”

“My hope is to help further boost the economic viability of the area, while maintaining the integrity of what people love about Cedar City,” Johnson added. “My goal is to build collaboration to problem solve and create solutions that will project Cedar City and Iron County to an even brighter future.”

After Johnson, Burk took to the podium.

“It’s funny because it’s the first time I met Mr. Johnson here, and I agree,” he joked. “We actually do kind of look a little bit alike. … Are we the same person?”

Burk said he’s grateful to work for the city.

“I’ve spent a lot of my adult life producing events, producing theater,” he said. “And what are events if they’re not theater, right? So I’m really excited to apply what I’ve gotten throughout my experience with the Shakespeare Festival and other places and bring it here and be a part of this because I love the city.”

Originally from Delaware, Burk said he grew up participating in theater productions and is also an “avid marathon runner.” He moved to various cities nationwide before landing in Cedar City while working for the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

“I moved here in 2018 officially, and I’ve been in and out of the city working for the Shakespeare Festival since 2015,” he Cedar City News. “But I feel like the first time I came here, it felt like home. And I’ve really just developed a family here in Cedar even though my actual family’s on the other side of the country, and so it very quickly became my home.”

Since then, Burk founded the InterMountain Performing Arts Conservatory, specializing in theater training for acting, dance and voice. While there, Twitchell contacted him, requesting volunteer assistance, and eventually, he began working for the department part-time.

While he feels comfortable with the work, Burk said there’s still much to learn.

“I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks trying to wrap my brain around all of that stuff,” he said. “But we’ve got a great, great team here, and everybody’s just been so helpful.”

“I want to make what we do here bigger and better,” he continued. “But one of my big goals is to get the community more involved in what we do from a volunteer standpoint. I really want to build a strong network of volunteers to help us put all these events on so that we can get bigger and better, attract more people to Cedar City (and) become even more of a destination than we already are.”

While Burk hopes to create a system for volunteering in Cedar City, he said those interested should email him in the meantime.

Updated Oct. 25, 9:08 a.m. to fix errors about Johnson’s background.

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