Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Kaplan steps down at RIEDC, deputy director steps up

By Brendan Lynch

Saul Kaplan has resigned as executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., according to the office of Rhode Island governor Donald Carcieri.     

Kaplan is leaving the RIEDC to return to the private sector. Kaplan will remain chief catalyst of the Business Innovation Factory, a nonprofit founded in 2005 focused on bringing together public and private sector partners to collaborate on new types of business models.

The RIEDC’s deputy director, J. Michael Saul, has been appointed interim director. Saul is a former Bank of Boston senior credit and lending executive with experience in building organizations, particularly in their critical initial startup phase or in re-organization, according to the governor’s office. Saul is also executive director of nonprofit real estate lender Urban Revitalization Fund of Rhode Island. Previously, Saul has served as director of the Rhode Island Urban Project, chair of the development committee of the Providence Performing Arts Center, director of the Minority Investment Development Corp., director of Junior Achievement, and director of The Fellowship. Saul, who lives in Barrington, R.I., is a graduate of Providence College.

Providence-based RIEDC is a quasi-public agency that serves as a government and community resource to help streamline the business expansion in, and relocation to, Rhode Island.