YAKIMA, Wash. -- The Committee for Downtown Yakima has hired Dan Kelleher for the executive director position.

He was chosen out of 23 applicants with local and national backgrounds and was one of two finalists for the position.

Kelleher, 52, served as the CEO and president of the Louisville (Ky.) Downtown Management District for the past two-and-a-half years. Prior to that, he served as executive director of the Coliseum Central Business Improvement District in Hampton, Va., for five years.

Kelleher's broad downtown development experience was a plus for the selection committee, said Doug Picatti, committee chair.

“(Kelleher) just had a lot of experience working in the political realm and getting people to work together, and utilizing resources when they’re scarce,” Picatti said.

The new position will give Kelleher and his family an opportunity to return to the Northwest -- Kelleher is from Kent, Wash., and his wife is a graduate of Davis High School.

"My family and I moved out east to Virginia and later to Kentucky about eight years ago," he said. "We've enjoyed it out there -- except all our family is here."

Kelleher replaces Sean Hawkins, who left the organization in January.

Kelleher's interest in downtown redevelopment dates back to the early 1980s, when a cousin lured him away from the University of Washington to help him redevelop and operate historic buildings in Kent.

From 1986 to 1993, he served as the mayor of Kent, where he helped bring more than $200 million in private and public investment to the city's 10-block downtown area.

"It really gave a boost to a downtown that was struggling," he said.

Picatti believes that experience will help Kelleher manage Yakima's downtown organization and generate more business activity and traffic to the area.

The Committee for Downtown Yakima is a private nonprofit group that evolved from several downtown visioning sessions at the Capitol Theatre in 2002. The committee is largely comprised of downtown business and property owners and has formed a downtown improvement district in which nonprofits, businesses and property owners are taxed to provide stable funding for downtown improvements.

Kelleher said he wants to know the community better before setting any major goals.

"I've been exposed to many different type of activities, initiatives, programs, projects and promotional activities," he said. "They don't all work for each community. Different communities have different things they need."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.