The new CEO of Auburn YMCA-WEIU discusses his role, membership growth and what the ongoing $20 million renovation means for the Y and the Auburn community.
By Mary Beth Roach
Q: How long have you been in this position?
A: Sixteen months.
Q: You are now leading a $20-million five-year upgrade at your facility on William Street. What do those plans include?
A: Before I joined the Auburn YMCA, the board of directors did a pretty thorough assessment of what are the best next steps for our YMCA, whether it was to build a new building someplace in the city of Auburn or keep the current building and renovate it over time. Our William Street building has been here, parts of it, since 1938. The last major renovation was in the ‘70s. But we are in a historical district in downtown Auburn and [we are] a vital piece of the fabric of what makes up the vibrancy of downtown Auburn. We are also located in an area of our city that has significant needs in terms of the programming and the services that we provide. We purposely decided to renovate over time so that we can find funding through grants and our work in the community with local foundations and our members.
An important consideration also is that we do this without interrupting the services and the programming that we provide. The Early Learning Center is at the front of our building, and we received a grant for $1.5 million to help us renovate two floors. We recently secured another grant for a half-million dollars and we’re starting construction in November. One of the considerations in how we planned out the renovation was to make sure we could still provide care. When we finally get all four floors of our Early Learning Center renovated, that’ll increase the number of kids that we can provide care for by more than 30%.
Q: What other projects do you see as part of this renovation?
A: Literally, there’s not a part of our building that’s not going to be addressed over the course of time. We have made incremental refreshes, if you will, in certain parts of our building already. We’re showing our community what the possibilities are. It’s been really great for our members to see what really can happen with the investments that we’re making. Subsequently our membership is up about 26% year-to-date. There’s a buzz about the YMCA. We’re being really good stewards of programming even outside of our four walls of the YMCA. Over the summer, we provided lifeguards to help the city of Auburn open up the community pool.
We also have a summer camp, Camp Y Owasco. It’s going through the same strategic transformation. We renovated our kitchen. We replaced every bunk bed, every mattress in our cabins.
Q: What is your background?
A: I actually have been in the for-profit world my entire career in consumer products. I grew up in retail. I’m originally from Auburn. I was away for 40 years. My family and I have been blessed to live in many places around the country, but we decided that we wanted to come back. At the time, I was planning to come back and maybe scale back, I learned about the opening at the YMCA in Auburn for a CEO. This YMCA when I was a kid in the late ‘70s was my place.
Q: What do you see ahead for the Y?
A: We have a very intentional strategic plan that sees us transforming this building, as well as the Camp Y Owasco property over five years. I think in terms of a bigger picture, we are focused on expanding the reach of the YMCA in delivering programming to our community and finding areas of need that we can impact. I see our community of members growing substantially in the future.
Q: As an Auburn native, what does returning home and bringing meaningful change to the community mean to you?
A: For me, it’s about paying it back. My wife and I believe that the best way of showing gratitude for the things that you have in life is to be able to give back and be a good citizen in the community. This has been a labor of love for me because of what this YMCA has meant to me.