Former Fairfield city manager named acting Solano EDC president
August 26 2021The Reporter
By NICK SESTANOVICH | nsestanovich@thereporter.com |
PUBLISHED: August 26, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. | UPDATED: August 26, 2021 at 4:34 p.m.
For the time being, countywide economic development-related matters will be overseen by someone with decades of experience in local government and financial matters.
Sean Quinn, the former city manager of Fairfield, has been tapped to serve as the interim president and CEO of Solano Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit focused on the economic growth of Solano County. He takes the reins of Bob Burris, who is leaving for a position with the Rural County Representatives of California.
One thing Quinn said has been helpful for the transition is that Burris is still with the agency for now.
“We’ve been able to work together, and there’s some exciting projects that he did that are going on,” he said.
Quinn has been a resident of Solano County since 1985 and was hired as the community development director of Fairfield in 1995. In 2006, he was promoted to city manager and held this position until he retired in 2014. Between 2015 and 2017, he worked with Solano EDC, an initiative to identify and build upon economic development strategies in the county. In 2019, he served as interim Fairfield city manager following the resignation of David White to serve as a deputy city manager in Berkeley.
Quinn said he was chosen for the interim position based on his strong interest in economic development.
“I’ve done a lot of work with the Solano Economic Development Corporation over the years,” he said. “When they approached me about doing an interim position, (I thought) this might be a good fit, and I think I can provide some good services to help them bring in the right person to be the new president.”
Quinn began on Monday and has already hit the ground running. He has three main priorities. The first is to work with existing programs and projects and accelerate them. The second is to provide assistance for the Moving Solano Forward project, especially with a grant recently provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
“I’ll be the lead on getting the requests for proposal out for the EDA grant and selecting the consultants,” he said.
Finally, Quinn will play a major role in finding a permanent president and CEO for Solano EDC who can “take the organization to the next level.” He said the position is already being advertised and will remain open until filled.
“There will be a selection committee made up of members of the Board of Directors,” he said. “They will go through the resumes and select a few people to be interviewed. I’ll go through the interview process and select somebody. I think it’s an attractive position, so we’ll get some really good applicants.”
Quinn believes the future of economic development in Solano is strong, citing its location and relative affordability for housing and land compared to the other Bay Area counties.
“There’s great opportunities,” he said. “Obviously, there’s challenges due to COVID and other factors, but I think that the basic fundamentals are strong here and there’s good opportunities for existing businesses to expand and to attract new businesses.”