For the Herald
FAIRBORN — The City of Fairborn has hired Vandalia’s former city manager Rob Anderson as its new economic development director.
Anderson comes to Fairborn with more than 20 years experience working in the public sector, most notably in the area of planning and development. Anderson most recently worked as the director of development for Clayton.
He began his career in Ohio as a city planner in Kettering for nearly 10 years before becoming the assistant city manager of Vandalia, followed by city manager.
When his passion for development and meeting with companies and developers was something he found himself doing less of, he decided to start his own consulting firm and leave Vandalia to pursue what he enjoyed — development. Soon thereafter, the City of Clayton began searching for a director and found Anderson. In December 2015, a fellow development director approached him regarding the Fairborn Economic Development Director position.
“I knew the former director Chris Wimsatt through the Dayton Chamber of Commerce,” Anderson said. “When Chris took the position in Florida, he suggested that this job would be of interest to me and to consider applying. We met for lunch and he explained the Fairborn Development Corporation, the current projects and how supportive the city manager, staff and council were for development.”
Having grown up in Xenia and with family in the area, Anderson is a Greene County native and felt this position seemed like the right fit for him. In addition to his development expertise and knowledge of the community, Anderson is also an adjunct faculty member at Wright State University’s College of Urban Affairs where he teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in urban affairs.
“I am excited to come work in this environment that has excellent leadership and staff along with a supportive council and the mechanisms in place to be successful,” Anderson said. “I hope to come in and pick up right where Chris left off and continue to move Fairborn forward.”
Anderson earned his bachelor of urban planning from the University of Cincinnati followed by his master of public administration from Wright State University.