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CLC-YMCA interim Executive Director Bob Young, left, and CLC-YMCA Board Chair Dennis Anderson will oversee a period of transition at the facility as the search for a new executive director begins. (Tim Badgley photo) |
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By Tim Badgley
The Central Lincoln County YMCA has appointed longtime YMCA professional Bob Young interim executive director.
Former Executive Director Craig Wilson resigned in mid-May after 10 years in the position.
This is the fifth interim appointment Young has received during the last nine years. He served as the transition executive at the YMCA in Portland and Augusta as well as two other locations in New England. He recently moved to his home in Chamberlain.
An interim can serve a maximum of 12 months under national Y rules, Young said. The national organization provides a very carefully orchestrated search process.
There is “a quality pool of candidates so that the process can happen in a very timely fashion,” Young said. “My role is to provide interim leadership to make sure the work of the organization gets done with the board and the committees.”
Young bases much of the work he does as an interim on asking a lot of questions of staff, volunteers, members, board and committee members, and residents in the community.
“I’m in the information-gathering and question-asking stage,” Young said. “I want to know what’s going on and why it’s going on.”
This process will enable Young to achieve one of his two primary objectives as interim director.
As he gathers answers to his questions and learns about the structure of the organization, its programs and its fundraising goals, Young compiles what he likes to call a playbook for the new executive director.
“It gives them the ability to hit the ground running,” Young said.
The second objective is to keep the Y running smoothly. This frees board members from administrative oversight so they can devote their time and energy to finding a permanent executive director. Young said he will not participate in the search process.
CLC YMCA Board of Directors President Dennis Anderson said the board is in the early stages of the search process. He said the board is afforded the opportunity to be focused and thorough in their search with Young at the helm.
Over the course of the next month or two, the board will craft a profile of “who we want as our next CEO,” Anderson said.
The biggest challenges Young sees before him are continuing the fundraising process for the pool and continuing the development of the Waldoboro branch site.
Anderson said $1.9 million has already been raised toward the goal of $3.5 million to add an aquatic center at the Damariscotta campus. “We’re trying to maintain the momentum and continuity we’ve had all along the process,” Anderson said.
According to Anderson, the CLC YMCA is the only Y in the state of Maine that does not have a pool. “We’re trying to eliminate that moniker,” he said.
The CLC YMCA acquired the old A.D. Gray School about two years ago with plans to turn it into a Waldoboro branch.
The Y has replaced the roof and made improvements to the building and parking lot in order to open the doors. So far, the only activities provided have been tennis and an ice skating rink which has operated for the last two winters, Anderson said.
The board has been working with volunteers and Waldoboro town officials “to find new, creative ways for Y programming to become a reality in the town of Waldoboro,” Anderson said. “And Bob is very much involved with that as well.”
Young will also oversee the CLC YMCA day care center in Nobleboro.
In addition to overseeing the operations and development of three Y facilities, Young is strengthening and developing partnerships with the Boothbay Region YMCA, Wiscasset Community Center, the Damariscotta River Association, and LincolnHealth.
“As I learn and people reach out or I reach out, I will develop such collaborative relationships as I can,” Young said.
As a longtime YMCA professional, Young is passionate about the role the organization plays in local communities.
“The Y is a vibrant community asset,” Young said. “We impact the lives of people from preschool to seniors. To be part of an organization that is being such a positive force in individual lives and the community as a whole is a very special thing.”
