‘Santa Fe Economic Development – An Overview’ - Rich Brown Director, Community and Economic Development

This presentation will be an overview of the projects and initiatives in the Office of Economic Development.  Major topics will include workforce development, asset development, entrepreneurship, industry cluster development and the Midtown parcel redevelopment plan.

Rich Brown is the Director for the City of Santa Fe’s Community and Economic Development Departments.  He tackles a myriad of initiatives that support business growth, innovation, prosperity and the overall well-being of the City’s residents.  Some of his areas of focus are small business resiliency, entrepreneurship, job training and workforce development, industry cluster growth and real estate asset development, including the Midtown Parcel Redevelopment.  Additionally, his Community Development leadership portfolio includes managing the Planning and Land Use Department, Office of Affordable Housing, the Arts & Culture Department and Tourism Santa Fe.  He has spent his professional career in both New York and San Francisco consulting with enterprise-level financial services and tech companies on their employee, partner, and customer relationship management strategies.  Before moving to Santa Fe, he served as the Executive Director of the San Francisco Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth; a member organization with a charter to help middle-market companies sustain their growth goals through connections, programming and the M&A ecosystem.  A recent transplant to Santa Fe, Rich and his husband, Chris (a Santa Fe native) enjoy food & wine, golf, gardening and great books. They also have a son who is attending high school