Montpelier Alive names new director
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By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: July 10, 2010
MONTPELIER – Montpelier Alive has chosen a new executive director.
The nonprofit, with the mission is to make the Capital City's downtown vibrant and prosperous, has hired Chuck D'Aprix, a Washington, D.C. resident who has decades of experience in economic development and downtown revitalization.
D'Aprix, 53, will replace Suzanne Eikenberry, who has led Montpelier Alive for the past four years and was the nonprofit's first full-time executive director. Eikenberry is leaving because she is expecting her first child in September.
Both Eikenberry and Shawn Bryan, the president of the Montpelier Alive board of directors, sung D'Aprix's praises Friday, saying he is as qualified as they come.
Bryan said he was "the best possible candidate in terms of experience and what he comes to the table with," adding that Montpelier Alive didn't expect to be able to hire someone of his caliber with the wages it is able to pay.
"You name it, he's done it," said Bryan.
D'Aprix was not shy about highlighting his qualifications, either.
"I'm an expert on downtown development, and I think they made the right hire," he said in a telephone interview, acknowledging his own immodesty.
D'Aprix, a native of Albany, N.Y., said his parents frequently brought him to Montpelier as a kid. He also spoke here two years ago about downtown revitalization and said Montpelier was one of three places he decided he would move to if the right job came up. (The other two were Littleton, Colo. and Albany).
"I love the place," he said.
In Washington, D'Aprix has been running three consulting businesses that he founded during the past six years: The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project, The Retail Incubation Group, and Economic Development Visions.
D'Aprix has also been doing speaking engagements about downtown development, he said.
He decided to give it all up for a chance to work in his field and live in Montpelier, which will be a change of pace compared to the nation's capital, he said.
D'Aprix's experience in downtown revitalization goes back 27 years, he said, when he went to work in Lowell, Mass., to revitalize the historic downtown there. He has also worked in Quincy, Mass., Boston and Florida in both public and private development, he said.
One of D'Aprix's talents is in fundraising, a skill Montpelier Alive needs, said Bryan.
The nonprofit has struggled the past few years to raise money during the annual Independence Day celebration and its New Year's celebration, said Bryan, which had been key sources of revenue.
The events are breaking even but not making money, because sponsorships have tailed off, said Bryan.
"One of our primary money makers over years have been two festivals, the Independence Day festival and the First Night festival," said Bryan. "They're both breaking even but we're not making money on them. Those used to be significant sources of income."
Montpelier Alive, which is 11 years old, is an organization of businesses, political leaders and residents whose goal is to make the downtown a vibrant and prosperous place while maintaining the city's character.
The group organizes events and does streetscape improvements.
There about 100 paying members of Montpelier Alive, said Eikenberry.
D'Aprix plans to begin working in Montpelier in September.
Both he and Bryan praised the job Eikenberry has done.
"They're big shoes to fill," said D'Aprix.
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