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ANCA executive director, Fish, to retire

Kate Fish, executive director of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), will retire later this year, and ANCA is now seeking her successor. (Photo credit: Adirondack North Country Association)

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. — Kate Fish — who has served as executive director of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) for nearly 12 years — plans to retire later this year.

The board of directors of ANCA, a regional economic-development nonprofit, has launched a nationwide search to fill the position.

A complete job description is available at bit.ly/ANCA-ED. ANCA is accepting applications until Friday, May 7.

“Kate is leaving a lasting legacy at ANCA and Adirondack North Country,” Jim Sonneborn, president of the ANCA board, said in a news release. “Her vision and bias toward action have helped ANCA become a real leader in sustainable economic development. ANCA’s clean-energy program and Center for Businesses in Transition are models for other rural areas, and we have Kate’s innovative thinking to thank for that.”

Fish also worked on a revolving-loan fund for small farms that ANCA will launch later this year, Sonneborn noted.

ANCA is an independent, nonprofit corporation that works to promote economic development across a 14-county region of Northern New York, with a focus on entrepreneurship, local agriculture, and clean energy. Since 1955, ANCA says it has leveraged the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars into key sectors that drive sustainable local economic development.

In 2019, ANCA took on operation of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, when state funding enabled the hiring of its inaugural director.

“This is a great time for ANCA to attract an excellent new leader,” Fish contended. “I have accomplished what I set out to do over the past 12 years — building a skilled staff and board, establishing a strong clean energy program, securing new revenue sources, and accelerating our entrepreneur and small business programs.”

ANCA’s board has appointed a small search committee to manage the search process, including Ty Stone, ANCA board member and North Country Regional Economic Development Council co-chair. Stone is president of Jefferson Community College.

Eric Reinhardt