POTTSTOWN >> Seventeen months after taking the helm at the Schuylkill River National Heritage Association, Executive Director Silas Chamberlin is moving on to a position in York.
According to an article in the York Daily Record, Chamberlin has taken a job as the new CEO of Downtown Inc., a non-profit which promotes economic development in the downtown area of the City of York.
He will begin his new job next month, according to the organization’s web site.
“We selected Silas as our leader based on his proven track record in attracting funding sources, collaborating with community stakeholders, leading teams and conveying a vision,” Downtown Inc Board Chair Krista Darr said in a news release.
Chamberlin told Digital First Media both he and his wife are originally from York and their parents live there as well.
“We’ve got young children and we wanted to be close to family,” he said.
He said the opportunities in York are exciting, particularly the redevelopment of the downtown’s only hotel, The Yorktowner.
Chamberlin took the reins as the heritage area director in May, 2015, taking over for Kurt Zwikl, who had led the organization for 12 years.
While here, Chamberlin said he appreciated the very diverse spread of communities that live along the Schuylkill.
“You’ve got Schuylkill County at one end and Philadelphia at the other, and so many different and wonderful places in between,” he said.
He said his brief experience managing and expanding the Schuylkill River Trail, and the many ways in which it can be used to drive redevelopment, will be helpful in York which “has a rail-trail that still needs to be developed.”
As for his successor, Chamberlin said the heritage area’s board of directors has involved him in the process to some extend.
“They are still deciding between a full-blown search or getting an interim director,” he said.
Whomever gets the job “will get an opportunity to really run with the progress we’ve made in the past year,” said Chamberlin. “We have a new strategic plan for the organization that we just finished that really has the board excited and the stakeholders excited.”
