The Shelton Economic Development Corporation announced today that the company’s president, James E. Ryan (Jimmy) has decided to retire as an employee and officer of the corporation, effective July 1, 2016.
The timing of this resignation will allow the corporation to have an orderly transition of leadership over the next 9 months.
Ryan’s decision to retire will bring to a close a remarkable career of service to the corporation, the City of Shelton, and the Valley region over the past 31 years of continuous service, according to the Chair of the Board of Directors, Kenneth E. Schaible.
“Jimmy has been a very strong leader, the first staff position filled after the organization launched its business in 1983, and following his arrival in 1984 he has guided the SEDC, with its Board of Directors, through the many challenges that confront a start-up business to the mature and highly performing organization it is today,” Schaible said in a prepared statement.
Schaible commented that “Jimmy embraced the spirit of cooperation and collegiality that is essential to building and sustaining a team of volunteers, while developing the well-earned trust of local and state officials in the administration of complex, highly regulated programs.”
The SEDC has been on the leading edge of progressive economic development in full partnership with the City of Shelton. A number of major activities have occurred during Ryan’s watch including:
- Canal Street reconstruction and utility upgrades and undergrounding of overhead utilities.
- Reclamation of the former BF Goodrich site which has been dedicated as permanent Open Space by the City of Shelton and State of Connecticut.
- Development of the Housatonic Riverwalk Program in downtown
- Development of the Shelton Farm and Public Market
- Implementation of the Veterans Memorial program
- Development and implementation of highly successful Brownfields program in downtown
- Creation of the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development Economic Development District
- Volunteer work that led to the creation of the Valley Community Foundation
- Planning and implementation of the Shelton Community Center building program
And many other activities in support of the City’s successful program of community economic development.
Ryan said that “it has been a privilege to work with an organization and Board of Directors that was and remains an example of an effective private sector and public sector partnership and to work with the elected leadership and volunteers of the City of Shelton, who has made the community a destination for businesses and residents, and who have made the downtown revitalization process a success for Shelton, the Valley Region and the State of Connecticut.”
The job description and application can be found on the SEDC website, at www.sheltonedcorp.org
