| By Neil Johnson, anchor/reporter Big Radio News |
Longtime Forward Janesville board member Oakleigh Ryan will take over temporarily as CEO of the city’s main chamber of commerce next month.
Current Forward Janesville CEO Angela Pakes previously announced she’s leaving the nonprofit chamber February 29 for a new opportunity.
Ryan, a private business consultant, over the last decade has championed public-private revitalization efforts throughout Janesville. Forward Janesville announced (Thursday) night that Ryan steps in as CEO on March 1.
Forward Janesville Board President Dave Hiller says Ryan will take the helm during a search for a permanent CEO. Hiller says local plumbing company owner Craig DeGarmo will lead the chamber’s CEO search team.
Pakes, an environmental and structural engineer and a Milton High School graduate, took the helm at Forward Janesville in early 2022, as former former CEO John Beckord was set to retire after leading the chamber for two decades.
Pakes has been at the helm of Forward Janesville during a frenetic period in the city’s history, as the community’s private sector worked its way out through the impacts of a global pandemic, and as the city of Janesville hired a new city manager and numerous other, new, city department heads.
Pakes served on an ad hoc design committee alongside city of Janesville officials and private stakeholders who for nearly two years toiled over plans for the Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center. Janesville’s city council approved construction bids for the Woodman’s Center last month, giving the green light to the biggest public-private city project in Janesville’s history.
Pakes over the last two years has led Forward Janesville through significant changes in executive leadership and staff makeup.
Her recruitment and hire came in the months after suburban Chicago, Illinois resident and hedge fund operator Michael Osborne was killed in a motorcycle crash in summer 2021, just days after he was named Forward Janesville’s new CEO.
Tune into WCLO Radio for more details on changes at Forward Janesville.
