Last fall the ARS Board of Directors started a process to look at the future of the organization.  This work developed the Strategic Roadmap 2006 2011. A major element of the plan was to hire a full-time CEO.  We are pleased to announce that David Thornburgh of Philadelphia has been chosen to lead ARS as it begins the implementation of this vision for the future.

David B. Thornburgh was named Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League, Southeastern Pennsylvania (PEL) in August, 1994.  The Economy League is a business-led civic organization founded in 1936 to provide private sector leadership in promoting better government and a more competitive Pennsylvania .  The League has four offices statewide, and Mr. Thornburgh leads the office in Philadelphia that covers the City of Philadelphia and the four surrounding counties. He reports to a board of over 65 senior private sector leaders from the region?s leading companies and universities.

Under Mr. Thornburgh?s leadership, PEL has become one of the nation?s leading ?think and do tanks? focused on issues of regional competitiveness. Over the past few years, PEL has worked with regional leaders to develop more competitive tax policy, improve the regional workforce development system, support the growth of arts and culture, and increase the impact of colleges and universities on the region?s economy.  In the process, the organization quadrupled its project income, increased its corporate leadership support by 75% and grew the organization?s revenues to $1.6 million, the highest level ever.   In that time, PEL received five national awards from the Government Research Association in recognition of the high quality of its work.

Mr. Thornburgh has extensive experience in the areas of economic development and public management.  From 1988 to 1994 he served as Director of the Wharton Small Business Development Center (SBDC).  The SBDC was founded in 1979 as a program of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center of The Wharton School, named consistently as one of the nation's top-rated programs in entrepreneurship.  Under Mr. Thornburgh's leadership the Wharton SBDC helped 20,000 entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses, raise $40 million in additional capital, and in the process create 4,000 new jobs in the region.  In 1990 Mr. Thornburgh founded a small business incubator program, the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia , an award-winning urban business incubator focused on high-growth potential African-American owned businesses.  He also created a highly successful initiative called the Philadelphia 100 that recognized the fastest-growing private companies in the reigon.  That annual program is now in its 15th year.  He also created and managed entrepreneurial development projects in Russia , China , Hungary , and Japan .  Prior to his appointment at Wharton, from 1985 to 1988 he served as Director of Civic Affairs at the CIGNA Corporation in Philadelphia , where he was involved in all aspects of the company?s civic involvement, particularly in the areas of community and economic development.

Mr. Thornburgh has received a number of awards for his professional and civic leadership.  In 2000, he was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship and travelled to Australia and New Zealand to meet with top leaders in those countries involved in entrepreneurial development initiatives.  In 1992 he was named one of 34 national finalists in the prestigious White House Fellows Program.  In 1991 he was selected by the Philadelphia Business Journal as one of "40 Business Leaders Under 40", and in 1991 and 1992 was named by the Philadelphia Jaycees as one of five Outstanding Young Leaders in Philadelphia .

A frequent commentator on public policy and regional economic development issues, Mr. Thornburgh is quoted often in the Philadelphia newspapers and has also been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Inc. and Fortune magazines.  He also has appears frequently on radio and television in Philadelphia . His many presentations to business, civic and policy groups range from entrepreneurship to education, tax policy to transportation.  He holds a BA in Political Science from Haverford College and a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government.  He is an avid scuba diver and plays lead guitar in Reckless Amateurs, an alt-country band formed in 1999.  He lives with his wife, Rebecca McKillip Thornburgh, a Wharton MBA turned children?s book illustrator and lead singer in the band, and their teenage daughters Blair and Alice in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia .

Register now and please join us in Chicago to meet David and learn more about the Strategic Roadmap, how you can become more involved, and how ARS can help you and your region become more competitive.