Benjamin Hughes
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – The City Council approved Benjamin Hughes as the new Downtown Development Authority and Economic Development director during the Jan. 24 council meeting, with an expected Jan. 26 start date.
City Administrator Mark Kibby said in a Jan. 19 memo to the council that Hughes, 51, has extensive experience in the non-profit and private sectors of municipal government.
Hughes is a substitute teacher with Allen Park Public Schools and will be recognized as a 2022-23 Allen Park Parent Teacher Association/Parent Teacher Student Association Council Founders’ Day Award recipient for Lindemann Elementary Support Personnel.
Hughes received a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration in 1994 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a master’s degree in Public Administration degree in 1996 from Rockefeller College in Albany, N.Y.
In addition to being the current co-owner of a property management company, he has worked in municipal government for more than 20 years as the special assistant to the mayor of Albany; the village administrator in Wrightstown, Wis.; the city administrator in Racine, Wis.; and the city manager for St. Clair Shores.
Hughes also served as the executive director of operations and human resources for Eastpointe Community Schools, as a project manager for Norstar Development USA of Dearborn, and as a project manager for The Color Bloc, LLC and Banner Sign Company in Detroit.
Hughes said he is eager to work once again in the public sector, and is prepared to make a long-term commitment to Allen Park.
“Mr. Hughes will be a valuable addition to the DDA and our city team,” Kibby said.