CABVI CEO D’Amico to retire next year

UTICA, N.Y. — The board of directors of the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) announced that Rudy D’Amico, president & CEO, plans to retire Aug. 31, 2019.

The search for his successor will start soon, according to Edward P. Welsh, chairman of the CABVI board.

“I’ve been privileged to lead CABVI — to have a role assisting consumers with vision loss achieve countless personal milestones,” D’Amico said in a release. “We’ve added many chapters to the CABVI history since I took the reins of this great organization in May 2008. Achievements he pointed to include:

 

• Expanding employment services into nearby Onondaga County
• Adding more than 100 employees, bringing total employment to 270, half of whom are blind
• Opening four base supply centers on military bases in the northeast
• Overseeing the addition of “innovative” vision rehabilitation services.

 

“The achievement that matters most to me? CABVI is recognized across the country as one of the best private agencies for the blind, thanks in large part to great boards of directors, and an amazing, talented staff. Collectively we envisioned, and are now constructing, a state-of-the-art vision health and wellness center in downtown Utica. As a result, CABVI will be at the national forefront of vision rehabilitation services for decades to come,” he contended.

 D’Amico joined CABVI as VP of operations in October 2003, then became president and CEO less than five years later. He was a local entrepreneur before joining. CABVI and the organization says he brought the “entrepreneur’s mindset” to the job at CABVI.

 In 2010 for example, D’Amico lobbied for the organization’s board of directors to invest in building a contact center in Utica, “even though the chances of securing a government contract were less than 50 percent,” per the release.

“But, with a leap of faith and determination, we followed Rudy’s instincts. Today the contact center employs nearly 40 individuals, 35 of whom are legally blind. That is the textbook example of a visionary,” Welsh said in the release.

CABVI generates total operating revenue of more than $60 million annually.

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Photo credit: CABVI