Downtown Boulder Partnership names new CEO

BOULDER — The Downtown Boulder Partnership has found a new CEO to replace the group’s longtime leader Sean Maher, who recently left the partnership to take over as CEO of Boulder-based market research firm RRC Associates.

The partnership’s new CEO is Chip, currently the executive director of the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz in California. Chip only goes by one name — he decided to drop his first name decades ago in an effort to stand out, according to California media reports.

Chip will start with the Boulder Downtown Partnership in early August, according to a partnership news release. Interim CEO Susan Connelly will remain in place until then.

“I have been following downtown Boulder, and specifically the work of the Downtown Boulder Partnership, for many years,” Chip said in a prepared statement. “I am excited and grateful for this opportunity to join an amazing staff and three strong boards of directors as we team up with small business owners, community members and partners to lead downtown Boulder into the future as one of the strongest, most vibrant downtown districts in America.”

Chip, who grew up in Colorado Springs, is a member of the International Downtown Association and a director of the California Downtown Association, the release said.

“We were fortunate to have well-qualified applicants,” said Alan Rogers, DBP board chair and co-chair of the search committee, said in a statement. “Chip comes into the position with fresh perspectives and a wealth of experience and insight from running a business improvement district in a community sometimes referred to as Boulder-by-the-Sea.”

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