The Board of the Downtown State College Improvement District (DID) announced on Friday the appointment of Jody Allesandrine as its new executive director.
The appointment is effective Sept. 1.
Allesandrine joins the DID with 10 years experience on the Ocean City, N.J. city council, where he served as active promoter of the city's Special Improvement Districts and the Main Street programs, according to a DID press release. More recently, he served as director of finance and acting director of revenue and finance of the city of Atlantic City.
The DID is a task force composed of downtown businesses working to promote and improve downtown State College.
Allesandrine said he plans to use this experience to help continue the successful history of the DID.
"I'm looking forward to being a part of the success story," he said. "Obviously, there is some great work that's been started. They have done so much in the past eight years -- work that other cities only wish to have done."
Dolores Taricani, chairwoman of the DID, said the committee felt after reviewing a number of applicants for the position, Allesadrine's background made him the best qualified for the position.
"We look forward to a lot of projects in the future and the expertise he can bring," Taricani said. "We are very excited to welcome him and his family to State College."
Allesandrine said he wants to continue to attract more businesses and people to live downtown, putting an emphasis on the latter.
"People who live downtown are the ones that are going to frequent the businesses more," he said. "The DID will focus on building up these businesses for the people that actually live there."
With its proximity to Penn State, State College also serves as a great location for the baby boomer generation, he said, adding the town offers a "built-in 365 days" schedule with things to do. Trends show as this generation enters retirement mode, college towns like State College are prime locations for relocations, he said.
"We are looking to capitalize on that," he said.
State College Mayor Bill Welch said that although he has not met Allesandrine, he looks forward to working with him in the future.
"He certainly sounds like he's qualified for the position and I look forward to talking with him about State College," he said.
Allesandrine, who earned his master's degree in governmental administration and a certificate in public finance from the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor's degree in communication arts from Villanova University, said Penn State has always been a major part of his life.
He attended grade school with the late brother of John Cappelletti, 1973 Heisman Trophy winner at Penn State. Growing up with this local legend made his family lifetime Penn State sports fan, he said.
Allesandrine will replace former board member Dave Wells, who stepped in and managed the DID during an interim period after Director Teresa Sparacino resigned in favor of a position with the Delta Development Corp. in May.
Sparacino could not be reached for comment as of press time yesterday.
