Woodbury Resident Michael O'Connor Named to WDC Board of Directors

Joseph A. Geary, Chairman of the Waterbury Development Corporation’s Board of Directors, and the City of Waterbury’s Chief of Staff, announced that the WDC Board has welcomed two new members in 2015, Michael L. O’Connor, a regional president and director with Webster Bank and Mark Holtz, M.S., FACHE of Greater Waterbury Health Network. The WDC is the City of Waterbury’s designated economic and community development agency. It was founded in May 2004 as a partnership of the public and private sectors and works collaboratively with city and state officials to stimulate and sustain Waterbury’s economic resurgence by assessing and repurposing contaminated properties (brownfields), eliminating urban blight and decay, and managing various construction and capital improvement projects.

Michael Liam O’Connor of Woodbury, joined the WDC Board on April 24^th. He is the Webster Bank Regional President for the Waterbury market and Director of Corporate Real Estate. He is responsible for all aspects of Webster Bank’s corporate real estate portfolio consisting of 180 properties and approximately 1.3M square feet, including the purchase and sale of real property, site selection, occupancy planning and administration, lease negotiations, lease administration, design and construction, sourcing, facilities, energy management and Webster’s sustainability program. Mr. O’Connor possesses more than 20 years of experience in construction and real estate, and previously held positions as Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation CEO, Waterbury Development Corporation CEO, and was Conroy Development Company Vice President of Operations.

Additionally Michael O’Connor is a retired Army officer having served in the National Guard, Reserves and Active Army, and he is recipient of the Bronze Star Medal for action in 2004 while serving in combat in Afghanistan with the 3^rd Battalion, 3^rd Special Forces, Airborne. An active participant in the Greater Waterbury Community, O’Connor also serves on the Board of Directors for the Waterbury Palace Theater, the Waterbury Police Activities League, the Greater Waterbury YMCA, and he is a member of the Greater Waterbury United Way. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree at High Point College and a Juris Doctorate at Ohio Northern University.

Mark Holtz, MS, FACHE, of Oxford joined the WDC Board on May 29th. He is currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Greater Waterbury Health Network in Waterbury responsible for Patient Care Services, Contracted Services, Hospital Outpatient Services, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Alliance Medical group, the Cardiology Service line including the Cardiology Associates of Greater Waterbury. Mr. Holtz has been a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2008 and has been a member of the College since 1984.

For the past 35 years Mark Holtz has held numerous positions in health care administration and possesses considerable management, administrative skills and experience acquired in a variety of hospital settings including, large complex academic medical centers, municipal hospitals, freestanding community hospitals, for profit hospital companies, as well as in a comprehensive managed care organization. His expertise is in efficient management of daily operations, process and system improvement, physician relations, and clinical program and service development. Mr. Holtz is also an Eagle Scout and past president of the Minsi Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Penn. Recently Mr. Holtz and his wife and three daughters relocated to Oxford, Connecticut from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The Waterbury Development Corporation Board of Directors includes: James H. Gatling, Ph.D., Board Vice Chair, New Opportunities, Inc. President & CEO; Catherine Awwad, Board Secretary, Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board Executive Director; Frederick L. Luedke, Board Treasurer, retired; Lynn Ward, Waterbury Regional Chamber President & CEO; Kristen B. Jacoby, United Way of Greater Waterbury, Inc. CEO; Bettejane (Elizabeth) Wesson, Waterbury neighborhood group; Paul K. Pernerewski, Jr., City of Waterbury Board of Aldermen President; Anthony T. Piccochi, City of Waterbury Board of Alderman Majority Leader; Michael Novak, St. Mary’s Health System Vice President Graduate Medical Education & Professional Services; Jerry Padula, City of Waterbury Board of Aldermen; Domenic Giglio, Giglio Commercial Real Estate, LLC Owner, Broker; David Therault, Waterbury Neighborhood Council; Michael Guisto, Waterbury neighborhood group; Joseph R. McGrath, City of Waterbury Economic Development Director; Jack Traver, Jr., Traver IDC President; Steve Colon, Waterbury Neighborhood Council; and William Kolo of Waterbury.

To learn more about the Waterbury Development Corporation, visit www.wdconline.org or call 203-346-2607. The WDC is located on the third floor at 83 Bank Street in Waterbury.