The Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) announced the hiring of a new chief financial officer and a new executive director of Downtown Kenosha Inc. and its newly created Main Street program.
Richard Rodenbeck has been named CFO. He previously served as KABA’s director of business finance. Rich has been with KABA since 2005.
Violet Ricker is the first executive director of the Main Street program. Ricker has served as the executive director of Waukegan Main Street for the past three years and has extensive training in the Main Street program approach of economic development through historic preservation.
The addition of a full-time staff person dedicated to helping existing and future downtown business thrive is the result of a community-wide effort to focus on the redevelopment of Kenosha’s downtown area. In 2011, the Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA), the City of Kenosha, and a steering committee of community leaders engaged the Lakota Group, an urban planning and design firm, to help set clear priorities.
“I am excited to join the team at KABA and look forward to being a part of downtown Kenosha’s revitalization,” Ricker said.