A banker and a representative from one of Gilroy’s leading land
development and engineering firms have been chosen to help guide
the city’s economic growth.
Gilroy – A banker and a representative from one of Gilroy’s leading land development and engineering firms have been chosen to help guide the city’s economic growth.
Kurt Michielssen, vice president of wealth management at South Valley National Bank, and Rob Oneto, of Ruggeri-Jensema-Azar & Associates, have joined the seven-member board of directors of the nonprofit Gilroy Economic Development Corporation.
The decade-old agency is responsible for luring new businesses and jobs to the city and, more recently, helping revitalize Gilroy’s downtown.
“Kurt brings his banking experience, of course,” said EDC director Larry Cope. “We felt he’d be a great tie-in when it comes to different financial matters. And Rob Oneto brings in the planning side. We have not had someone on the board in my two years here with experience on the planning side. He also keeps our ties with the chamber, one of our major funding agencies and a business partner.”
Oneto is one of two representatives from the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce’s governing board. The agency provides $30,000 of the EDC’s $212,000 annual budget. The city provides $120,000 in funding and the rest is made up of contributions from local businesses such as South Valley National Bank.
Michielssen is one of two board members chosen from the pool of businesses that help finance the agency. He and other members serve three-year terms and are charged with hiring the EDC director, overseeing the agency’s budget and ensuring the agency adheres to goals laid out in a strategic plan.
“For Gilroy, for a number of years we focused on retail out at the outlets and off of 10th Street,” Michielssen, said. “That’s developed to a large degree. Now it’s time to work with the city to develop other areas, such as revitalizing the downtown. That’s extremely important. Downtown has tremendous potential for Gilroy.”
Michielssen and Oneto replace outgoing EDC board members Jane Howard, director of the Gilroy Visitor’s Bureau, and Georgia Garfink, who works for the Container Consulting Company, in Gilroy.
They join a board that includes Glenn Pace, vice president of the Wellington Corporation; Jan Peat, owner of the local McDonald’s franchise; Bill Reimal, a commercial real estate broker; and Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilman Roland Velasco.
