Stamford's David Kooris Elected to Statewide Industry Board

Press release from Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau:

July 28, 2021

MIDDLETOWN, CONN., July 20, 2021 – Stamford, Conn. resident David Kooris, President of Stamford Downtown, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (CTCSB). Kooris’ three-year term started on July 1, 2021.The Middletown, Conn.-based CTCSB is the State of Connecticut’s only statewide sales and marketing organization for meetings, conventions, and sports events.

“David Kooris has cultivated many partnerships with legislative, municipal, business and community leaders across the state, and he will be a great asset to the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau as we sell our state to meeting planners and sports promoters across the U.S.,” explains Thomas Madden, Chair of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau and Director of Economic Development for the City of Stamford.

In addition to leading Stamford Downtown, the largest business improvement district in Connecticut, Kooris is Chair of the Connecticut Port Authority and is a graduate-level lecturer at Yale University’s School of Environment. Prior to January 2020, he served as Deputy Commissioner of the State of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development. Prior to that position, Kooris was the Connecticut Department of Housing’s Director of Resilience, and the City of Bridgeport’s Director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development. He began his career at the Regional Plan Association where he held several positions, culminating as Vice President and Connecticut Director.

As an independent consultant, Kooris has worked on high-speed rail-oriented development, sustainable communities, and urban revitalization projects in Canada, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey. A former elected official in Stamford, he held positions on the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives. Kooris holds a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning and a Masters certificate in Urban Design from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Anthropology from McGill University in Montreal.

Two other new Board members also were elected to the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau at the organization’s annual meeting in June. They are Heather Solomon and Jason Soucy:

· Heather Solomon is the President and Founder of Solomon & Associates Event Management (S&A) in Glastonbury, Conn. Since its establishment 1994, the firm has provided a full range of conference and event planning services to corporate, association and nonprofit clients worldwide. Solomon is a member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Connecticut River Valley Chapter and is a Certified Pandemic Compliance Advisor for meetings. The Glastonbury resident’s current focus is consulting with clients to promote and produce safe and successful gatherings in a post-COVID Connecticut.

· Jason Soucy is the Director of Business Development for the PGA TOUR Travelers Championship and has held that position, with that of Director of Sales at Connecticut’s PGA TOUR event, since 2009. Soucy has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, selling and promoting championship golf on the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, and Champions Tour in multiple markets around the country. Prior to the Travelers Championship, the Glastonbury resident was a member of the IMG Golf Division, serving as Vice President of North American Event Sales, and he also spent several years as a Tournament Director for the PGA of America.

“The composition of our Board of Directors reflects many of the professions and businesses involved with our nation’s conventions, meetings, sports and hospitality industries,” adds Robert Murdock, President of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau. “We look forward to David Kooris, Heather Solomon, and Jason Soucy’s insight and perspective to our organization as we market Connecticut to attract new and retain existing events for our state that will benefit our economy.”

The Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (CTCSB) markets all of the state – convention and meeting venues, hotels, attractions, and sports facilities and athletic sites – as a premier destination for international, national, regional, and statewide conferences, conventions, and major sports events. In partnership with Connecticut’s businesses, institutions, nonprofit organizations and their surrounding communities, the Middletown, Conn.-based organization works to generate new and return events, thereby generating increased economic impact for Connecticut’s local regions and tax revenue for the State. For more information about the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau, visit www.CTmeetings.org or call 860-728-6789.

This press release was produced by the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau. The views expressed here are the author’s own.