After nearly half a year without an executive director, the Ketchum Community Development Corp. announced that longtime Wood River Valley visitor Neil Morrow will take over the nonprofit organization's top post on Jan. 20.
Neil Bradshaw, president of the CDC's board of directors, announced Thursday that Morrow had been selected through an extensive search process that attracted more than 50 applicants for the position.
Morrow, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pa., first visited Ketchum in 1976 as a teenager and has returned many times since, including to volunteer for the Dalai Lama's trip to the Wood River Valley in 2003.
Without a doubt, one of Morrow's first challenges will be to overcome the wake of bad publicity that resulted from the July arrest of former CDC executive director Gary Rapport, on a decade-old burglary charge from California.
In a press release, Bradshaw wrote that Morrow was chosen because of his breadth of experience, which includes eight years volunteering on the board, and time as president of the Mount Washington CDC in Pittsburgh.
Morrow owns a brokerage company and is an appeals attorney, and also spent three years as owner/operator of an event production company specializing in mountain bike and snowboard racing events.
"His background as a lawyer, real estate broker, marketer and event planner, as well as eight years on the board of his neighborhood CDC ... means Neil Morrow has a variety of relevant skills and work/volunteer experience for this position," Bradshaw stated.
"We have found ... a person who will help grow the profile of the organization through project accomplishments and community outreach. We look forward to the energy and leadership that (he) will bring to the CDC."
Since Rapport's absence, the CDC continued to move ahead with a number of projects, including a proposed affordable rental housing development that would be located on city-owned property adjacent to the Wood River Community YMCA.
Neil Bradshaw
