Meet the Commissioners
Corrin Arasa
Corrin has spent 25 years developing marketing and event strategies for consumer brands and hopes to bring her ideas and experience to the ECDC. After moving to Ridgefield in 2021, she started the Ridgefield Farmers Market, which has grown to become a beloved Ridgefield gathering. As an entrepreneur herself, she enjoys the opportunity to work with other local businesses and provide a platform to connect the community with small businesses and growers at the market and around town.
Jimmy Classy
Jimmy brings 15 years of experience in fixed income investing and relationship management. He currently works with a local real estate developer while pursuing new entrepreneurial ventures. Committed to making a positive impact, he is focused on driving local economic development in Ridgefield and is proud to call it home, thanks to its warm and welcoming community.
Sean Dowd
Sean is an accomplished investment banker, founder, and community advocate with 30+ years of experience working within investment banking, private equity, and entrepreneurship. An early-stage investor dedicated to creating a positive impact in the community through the provision of capital, economic development advising, and management.
Kay Gelfman
Kay grew up in Ridgefield, and returned home twenty-five years later after schooling and her career had moved her around the country. Her work experience is in bookkeeping, accounting, grant writing and oversight/management for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. She is currently the Treasurer of the Daily Bread Food Pantry in Danbury and has served on other local Boards.
Jenn Gioffre
Appointed to the ECDC in 2023, Jenn brings a strong background in Marketing and Business Development as well as first-hand experience with being a business owner in Ridgefield as she and her husband ran The Orange Elephant , a children's bookstore on Main Street from 2007 – 2010.
Peter Kearney
Peter leads Business Development for Reynolds + Rowella, the regional Accounting & Consulting firm headquartered in Ridgefield. He is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) CT and Western CT SHRM. He began his career in Chicago in Financial Services and has been doing Human Capital Management Consulting more recently.
Bob Knight
Bob is a longstanding member of ECDC; he first served on the Commission from 2008-2012 as Chair, and was reappointed again in 2019. Bob is one of the nation’s leading broadband experts and helps ECDC to facilitate faster, more reliable service throughout town. Bob represented Ridgefield at a meeting with the White House—one of only 18 communities nationwide—pertaining to funding for broadband infrastructure projects. During the pandemic, he led the Business and Jobs Subcommittee of the Town’s Long-term Recovery Committee and helped drive state-level action on school bus licensure, which kept buses rolling at a critical time for our economy in Ridgefield and across the state. His favorite part about living in Ridgefield: The high level of civic engagement and neighborly spirit throughout town.
