Gary Ferguson, principal
Gary is a career downtown district executive, having served five different communities over a period of 40+ years. He lectures around the United States on business recruitment and retention.
Specializing in downtown economic development, Gary has attracted hundreds of retail, food & beverage, entertainment, and office businesses of all shapes and sizes. These range from major back-office employers to small specialty shops.
Gary has championed projects of all sizes. In Ithaca, NY, he oversaw the addition of more than $0.5 billion of new investment during his tenure. In Dayton, OH, he collaborated on the attraction of minor league baseball to the city and the development of a new award-winning downtown baseball stadium. In Grand Junction, CO, he oversaw the rebuilding of the nationally renowned downtown Shopping Park.
Throughout his career, Gary has worked to bring disparate parties together to solve complex community challenges. Gary has served on the board of the International Downtown Association and five different state downtown associations. He currently serves on the editorial board of the London based Journal of Regeneration and Renewal (JURR) and has authored numerous articles and papers. He lives in Ithaca, NY.
Nancy Ferguson, principal
Nancy is a problem solver. She has served as finance and administration director at multi-million dollar nonprofits, and built systems in two languages.
After earning her masters in public administration from Cornell University, she spent nearly a decade working internationally in global health, and has experience working with UN agencies and events. She has recently focused more domestically, helping to start a nonprofit with a fellow Cornell graduate and serving as director of finance for a longstanding urban farming nonprofit in Rhode Island. Her enthusiasm for a spreadsheet is unmatched. She lives in Medford, MA.