Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • November 9, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Zaleski aims to expand riverfront's economic impact By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com M ichael Zaleski, the new head of River- front Recapture, is no stranger to Hartford or the Connecticut River, but even he was impressed by the nonprofit group's breadth of events and attractions — discovery he hopes other residents and visitors can share. "I've been working in Hartford for 16 years now and I didn't fully appreci- ate that we had a regatta — one of the largest in New England," he said of the Head of the River- front Regatta that began in 1998 and attracted row- ing crews from nearly 60 clubs and schools for this year's Oct. 4 event. It's just one of 40-plus events Riverfront Recapture, now in its 34th year, con- ducts annually among its four riverfront parks — Char- ter Oak Landing, Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, and Great River and Riverside parks — anchoring the organiza- tion's riverwalk. "One of my priorities for the future is to make sure that people fully appreciate what Riverfront Recapture does," said Zaleski, who took over June 15 as president and CEO, replacing Joseph Marfuggi, who retired with a legacy of accomplishment after joining the organiza- tion in 1987. Zaleski, 44, helped found the Hartford Business Improvement District in 2006, where he was executive director before joining Riverfront Recapture. Riverfront Recapture's next chapter will be outlined in a five-year strategic plan to be drafted next year. "I'm hopeful that we'll emerge from this strategic plan- ning process with a much more entrepreneurial organiza- tion that puts the organization on a stable financial foot- ing, that increases our earned revenue," Zaleski said. Riverfront Recapture's annual budget is about $2.5 million. Among operating revenues, 34 percent are from earned income sources such as program and vendor fees and private events at the Riverfront Boathouse, according to its latest annual report. Other revenue sources are government, 23 percent; foundations, 15 percent; corporate, 13 percent; individuals, 10 percent; and fundraising events, 5 percent. "I think we have the capacity here to generate additional revenue using our existing assets, whether it's our events or our programs or a wider array of programs that will expose our offerings to more and more people," Zaleski said. Bringing more existing and new visitors to the river- front is key for Zaleski. He's examining how to expand the adventure program at Riverside Park, which now includes a ropes course and climbing tower. He wants to explore all options, from ideas like a zip line over the river to possibly kayak rentals on it. "One of the things that I truly want to do is get more people actually out onto the water," he said, citing the popularity of the annual Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival. Adding an adjacent boathouse could be an option to keep pace with the growing popularity of the organiza- tion's community rowing club, which offers lessons and competitions and attracts more than 600 people annually. Events are a huge draw and Zaleski wants to explore new ones while building on the already diverse base of popular mainstays like pop concerts, Pipes in the Val- ley Celtic Festival, Hartford Latino Fest and Riverfest. "I'd like to develop some new events that are interesting to new audiences that may be niche events or niche con- stituencies that attract a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand new people to the riverfront," he said. "Not all of our events have to be 20,000 to 30,000 people." A new event this year was the Bear's Smokehouse New England BBQ Championships, which brought more than 1,000 people to the river over Labor Day weekend and which Riverfront Recapture hopes to build on, he said. Also new was the Riverfest Food Truck Festival. The new events and favorable summer weather helped most events break attendance records, Zaleski said. The parks attracted almost 900,000 people last year, a figure he expects to break this year when final numbers are tallied. While Zaleski can't yet reveal possible new events for 2016, a guided mobile tour of the Lincoln Financial Sculpture Walk will launch next spring. More than $150 million in public and private money has been invested in the riverfront park system over the years, but Riverfront Recapture still has one more piece of the riverwalk to finish: the riverwalk south project connect- ing Mortensen Riverfront Plaza to Charter Oak Landing. Once completed, it will allow people to make the entire loop of the system on both sides of the river. The leg will provide a connection to Coltsville, which was recently designated a national historical park and also connect downtown with the Sheldon-Charter Oak neighborhood, Zaleski said. Riverfront Recapture propos- es building the riverwalk segment similar to the northern riverwalk, with an opening in the dike at Coltsville for passage between it and the river that can be opened and closed as river conditions warrant, Zaleski said. The project would take a couple years and funding needs to be raised, but Riverfront Recapture proposes doing the work in conjunction with federally required dike repairs. Zaleski also sees potential to some day connect to other existing and proposed trails in the region. "To the north, there's an opportunity to extend the riverwalk project to downtown Windsor," he said, envi- sioning bikers using the path as an alternative form of transportation to downtown or East Hartford. "There's significant potential for expanding our trail system both to the north and to the south," to create a regional trail system, he said. Options include connecting to the Hockanum River trails from Great River Park, linking Goodwin College, Main Street area of East Harford, Pratt & Whitney and Rentschler Field; a link to Manchester; and linking the William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge, which now has walkways, and Charter Oak Bridge. n FOCUS NONPROFITS EXPERTS CORNER Fiduciary duty: A pledge board members must uphold By Lisa Wills A n organization is only as strong as its board. Many individuals become nonprofit board members because of their passion for the entity's mission. Once the organi- zation determines the member is a fit, it's assumed that the pledge to honor and uphold the fiduciary duties will naturally follow. The benefits of sitting on a board are innumerable. How- ever, board members who use their posi- tion for surreptitious gains and lose sight of their responsi- bility to uphold the organization's best interests, or are not fully paying attention, may wind up in one of these scenarios. Recently, a jury verdict against the board of directors of Leming- ton Home for the Aged, a nonprofit nursing home, was upheld by the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals. The directors were found personally liable for breach of their duty of care for failure to remove the CFO of the nursing home after learning of his mismanagement of the entity. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called for an investigation of the board mem- bers of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art over alleged mismanagement of the higher-education institution's endowment and physical assets. Their actions caused the school to charge undergraduates tuition for the first time in its history. The lack of transparency by Sweet Briar College's board of trustees led to legal action after the board failed to communicate to its constituents the accuracy of their financial situation, yet in turn, voted to abruptly close the institution. After a long legal bat- tle, a settlement was reached in June 2015 to keep the institution open, with several conditions, one being the resignation of the entire board of trustees. These are just a few of the national headlines that exhort us to question how serious some nonprof- it board members take their fiducia- ry responsibilities. These responsi- bilities are known as the duties of care, loyalty and obedience. Board members are expected to exercise reasonable care when making decisions on behalf of the entity in which they serve. In instances where they do not exer- cise such care, board members may be held personally liable. Increased scrutiny over the activities and decisions of nonprofit boards may result in members and prospective members evaluating if their involvement is worth the risk. There are some key practices that board members need to uphold as assurance that they are exercising fiduciary responsibilities: Know the entity — Read and understand the articles of incor- poration and bylaws, and ensure that documents are updated and amended as appropri- ate. Be aware of pend- ing and threatened legal claims. Be informed of strategic initiatives — Read the organiza- tion's long-term strate- gic plan. Understand the financial and eco- nomic challenges fac- ing the entity and the industry, as a whole. Stay informed of finan- cial activities — Understand significant components of the annual budget, encourage regular reporting of financial information, review the annual audit report and management recommendations with the external auditors. Understand conflict of interest policy — Be aware of potential personal and profession- al conflicts of interest between the board member, a family member or an employee and the nonprofit entity. Disclose conflicts of inter- est and abstain from board votes where appropriate. Understand the nonprofit entity's indemnification poli- cies — Ensure the entity's poli- cies provide for indemnification of its board members, and that there is a directors' and officers' liability policy to cover claims arising from board service. Prepare for and attend board meetings — Review board minutes and financial statements in advance of meet- ings, which will allow you to be an active participant and ask questions and understand the issues. Always use good judge- ment — Remember that the fiduciary responsibility requires board members to make prudent and informed decisions. Board members receive great satisfaction from their involve- ment and should feel that, in exercising due care, they have acted in the best interest of the nonprofit in furthering the mis- sion and making a difference. n Lisa Wills is an audit director with Hartford accounting and consulting firm Whittlesey & Hadley P.C. Lisa Wills One of Michael Zaleski's goals is to create a regional trail system into Hartford as an alternative form of transportation into the city. H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S

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