124 West State St. in Trenton — Courtesy: Greater Trenton
By Joshua Burd
Greater Trenton, the capital city’s nonprofit economic development arm, has tapped Investors Bank CEO and President Kevin Cummings as its new board chairman.
Cummings, who succeeds Skip Cimino in the role, was among several new board appointees announced Tuesday by the nearly five-year-old organization. The other new members include:
- Corporate Secretary: Dr. Merodie Hancock, president of Thomas Edison State University
- Treasurer: Peg Forrestel, director of community affairs of Janssen Pharmaceuticals
- Member: Eleanor Horne, trustee of the Princeton Area Community Foundation
- Member: Brendan Monahan, senior vice president and regional vice president of TD Bank
- Member: Treby Williams, executive vice president of Princeton University
In a news release, Greater Trenton said its dedicated board and committee members will help the expand the organization’s role in developing and revitalizing Trenton through collaborative partnerships and grassroots initiatives. The agency has tapped public- and private-sector leaders in recent years to attract more investment, create economic vitality and improve the lives of residents in the state capital.
Key initiatives in 2020 include working to foster public-private partnerships for new, prospective downtown mixed-use projects; formulating a new housing incentive to encourage workers to live and work in the downtown; securing leadership roles and collaboration with complementary organizations; and refinement and expansion of its daily news publication, TrentonDaily.
“I’m thrilled to serve in this important capacity as Chair of Greater Trenton’s Board of Trustees,” Cummings said in a prepared statement. “We applaud Skip Cimino, outgoing Chair, who has provided outstanding leadership as one of the key founders of Greater Trenton serving in many roles including Chair, Co-Chair, Corporate Secretary, member of the Strategic Planning Committee and Audit and Finance Committee, and chair of the Governance, Nominating and Compensation Committee, all since the organization’s inception.
“We also applaud the exemplary contributions of outgoing Corporate Secretary, Ramona Romero of Princeton University and outgoing Board member Robert Curley of TD Bank, both of whom have committed to continuing their involvement on our Advisory Committee.”
George Sowa, a former NAIOP New Jersey president and well-known development executive in the state, has led Greater Trenton as its founding CEO since 2016.
“Greater Trenton was created with long-term organizational sustainability to withstand changes in leadership within the organization as well as changes at all levels of government,” Sowa said. “Skip Cimino has been a tremendous asset to Greater Trenton. The work that he has done as one of the key co-founders of the organization and through many leadership roles, has laid the important groundwork for future success and advancement of our city.
“With the baton passed on to Kevin Cummings, we’re encouraged and excited that Skip’s great legacy, together with the work of our past-Chairs of Caren Franzini and Bernie Flynn, will continue on through Kevin’s leadership.”
Greater Trenton noted that both Romero, vice president and general counsel at Princeton University and Curley, South Jersey market president at TD Bank, have stepped down from the board, but will remain active on its advisory committee. Dr. George Pruitt, president emeritus of Thomas Edison State University, and Brenda Ross-Dulan of the Ross Dulan Group chair the committee.
“We’re thrilled that former board members continue to stay actively involved on our various committees; giving unselfishly of their time and resources to help improve the city and the lives of residents and future residents,” Sowa said. “We congratulate our new corporate officers and also welcome our newest board members. We look forward to their tremendous leadership, expertise and engagement as we continue to move the city forward.”
