Release Date: July 1,2025
City of Akron and Downtown Akron Development Corporation (DADC) Announce Christopher J. Hardesty as DADC Inaugural Executive Director
Hardesty to start July 7
Akron, Ohio, July 1, 2025 — At the recent State of the City address, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik shared the news that Christopher J. Hardesty would take the reins as the first Executive Director of the Downtown Akron Development Corporation (DADC). Today, the city and DADC are sharing more information about Mr. Hardesty and what his first steps will look like in the new role. Hardesty is set to begin on July 7.
Hardesty, currently serving as the Director of Economic Development for the City of Canton, will bring nearly a decade of experience to his new role in Akron. In his career, he has worked on various forms of development and city-wide initiatives including downtown development, adaptive redevelopment, residential development, site and greenfield development, and program and incentive development. Hardesty has played a key role in shaping Canton’s Downtown and intends to bring that experience and success to Akron’s core. In addition to his experience, he is a University of Akron alumni, holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Walsh University, is an Ohio Certified Economic Developer (OhioCED), and is a 2024 member of ystark! ‘Twenty under 40!’ class.
“I am looking forward to bringing my experience and expertise to Akron and identifying how I can best serve Downtown Akron’s residents and businesses alike,” said Executive Director Christopher Hardesty. “Downtown Akron has always been a special place for me, and I spent many of my college years exploring the area from RubberDucks games to Lock 3 to Lockview and the University of Akron. I have a strong affinity for this place and I’m excited to help it thrive.”
“For years, our community has talked about the need for a Downtown Development Corporation that can spearhead important projects in our downtown corridor,” said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik. “After working with government, corporate, and non-profit partners to launch the corporation earlier this year, we are so excited to welcome Christopher to the helm. He has a proven track record and brings a wealth of expertise to this role. We're looking forward to how downtown Akron will benefit from his leadership in this new role.”
“Chris brings a really unique breadth of experience to this new role, and we’re excited for him to get started in this position for the benefit of Downtown Akron,” said Ronald Paydo, Chair of the Downtown Akron Development Board. “We know the areas of focus for our downtown corridor and having a dedicated expert like Chris taking the lead, we are sure to see progress on these important initiatives.”
In January this year, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik joined community leaders and downtown Akron stakeholders to announce surpassing initial engagement and fundraising goals to restructure and collaboratively resource the Downtown Akron Development Corporation. After several months of working toward a collaborative operating model, Mayor Malik announced 17 corporate, government, non-profit, and philanthropic organizations who stepped up to provide support for the organization. Among the supporters, Kyle Kutuchief, Program Director for Akron at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a $1.5 million matching grant to support the Development Corporation. Learn more here.
The Development Corporation is charged with accelerating progress on downtown’s most challenging development projects including mixed use residential redevelopment, a convention-center adjacent hotel, and a dense and vibrant retail corridor in the center of the city.
In his new role, Hardesty will assemble funding, track development and investment, connect with developers, market properties and projects, host developer events, survey property owners and developers, and inventory sites and available funding programs to support development. His expertise and efforts will complement the economic development work already accomplished by the City, County of Summit, Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, Development Finance Authority, the Summit County Land Bank, and Downtown Akron Partnership — all of whom will be represented on the Development Corporation board. Hardesty will report directly to the DADC Board, chaired by Ronald Paydo, Market President Huntington National Bank, and vice-chaired by Brittany Grimes Zaehringer, Chief of Staff to Akron Mayor Shammas Malik.