With over 30 years in the community and economic development field, Brian brings practical experience to real estate development challenges grounded in a lifelong commitment to nurturing thriving communities for all.
Brian has served in the nonprofit, private and public sectors in executive leadership roles, and as project developer and manager, policy advisor to elected officials and as an elected official. As W+B Senior Project Manager, he provides services to clients focused on developing strategies that yield optimal results in the most cost-effective manner.
In June of 2021, Brian was appointed as the City of Burlington’s Director of the Community & Economic Development Office by Mayor Weinberger. As CEDO Director from 2021 to 2025, Brian led a department of over 35 employees and managed an annual budget ranging from $8M to $10M. He led CEDO during a challenging period of post-Covid transition and expansion of responsibilities, rebuilding a team shrunken by Covid, standing up the City’s first team focused on addressing homelessness, growing the Housing Trust Fund and resolving myriad challenges critical to advancing major housing and economic development projects. During most of his 23 years with the City, Brian was a key player in all Tax Increment Financing matters.
Brian began his career as the second staff member of the nascent Vermont Community Loan Fund. He served as the lead on project underwriting and providing technical assistance to borrowers in communities of all sizes across Vermont. After an interim position creating YouthBuild Burlington, Brian managed a multi-year revitalization effort known as the Old North End Enterprise Community and led a $6.5M comprehensive revitalization of North Street – the Old North End’s main commercial corridor. He was promoted to Housing Director and served as the City’s leader on housing development and policy for 17 years. After CEDO, Brian served for five years on the consulting team at Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), where he focused on innovative financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with public-purpose clients in underserved market segments throughout Vermont and beyond.
For several years before he was appointed CEDO director, Brian had an independent consultancy focused on serving nonprofit and public sector clients with housing and community facility development, financing, grant-writing and business planning. Brian brings a proven ability to find consensus and form collegial and productive relationships with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds.
A resident of Burlington since first arriving in 1981 to attend the University, Brian served on the Burlington City Council both in the early 1990s and again from 2018-2021 representing the western part of the Old North End and most of downtown. He served on the Board of Finance and chaired the Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization Committee from 2019-2021. A 1985 graduate of UVM with B.S. in Environmental Studies/Community Development, Brian and his wife have lived in the same Old North End home since 1995. In his spare time, Brian enjoys skiing, camping, hiking, kayaking, travelling and touring Vermont in his 1980 MGB.
CERTIFICATIONS
Housing Development Finance Professional, National Development Council
Excellence in Executive Leadership, Champlain College
Essentials for Healthy Homes Practitioner, National Center for Healthy Housing
Facilitative Leadership, Interaction Institute for Social Change