August 6th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

The Cumberland Downtown Development Commission is pleased to announce that they have hired Melinda Kelleher to serve as its Executive Director/Main Street Manager.  Kelleher is a graduate of Brenau Women’s College in Gainseville, GA.  She recently moved to Cumberland to be close to family.

 

She is a highly accomplished fundraising and development professional with 26 years of experience.  In 2018 she was recruited to be the first Vice President of Development at Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Prior to that she served as Chief Development Officer at Atlanta Habitat for Humanity.

 

Her office will be located on the ground floor of City Hall where she will be focusing initially on assisting downtown businesses through the challenges of the Covid pandemic.  She will also be working with the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation to inform and assist downtown businesses and building owners through the Baltimore Street redevelopment. She will begin her job on September 8, 2020.

 

The DDC had 34 applicants for this position and many were considered well qualified, however, Kellher’s past experience in team building, implementing strategic plans and developing relationships seemed to make her exceptionally well suited to fill this position during the challenges that are currently facing the downtown stakeholders and that will certainly be present during redevelopment.

"We had a great group of candidates for this job.  We think Kelleher will add great value to our stakeholders," said Doug Schwab, chair of the search committee.