New Era for Downtown: Ridgewood Business Alliance Names Steve Grillo as Executive Director
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The future of Ridgewood’s local economy just got a major upgrade.Following the landmark establishment of the Village’s Special Improvement District (SID) in late 2025, the Board of Directors launched an extensive search for a dynamic leader to spearhead its day-to-day operations. The goal? To find an expert capable of taking the Ridgewood Business Alliance (RBA) to the next level.
That search has officially concluded with the appointment of Steve Grillo as the RBA’s new Executive Director.
A Proven Track Record in Economic Development
Grillo is far from a newcomer to the world of downtown revitalization. He steps into the role with more than 15 years of experience in economic development, most notably serving a highly successful tenure running the prestigious improvement district in Millburn-Short Hills.
Local leaders are already expressing immense confidence in his ability to drive growth in the Village.
“I am delighted to announce that we have hired the ideal person to lead our organization,” said Deputy Mayor Pamela Perron, who also serves on the RBA Board. “Steve Grillo brings more than 15 years of experience in economic development and has had major success running the improvement district in Millburn-Short Hills.”
What’s Next for Ridgewood Businesses?
Having officially started his role earlier this month, Grillo is hitting the ground running. As Executive Director, he will be the driving force behind several critical initiatives designed to strengthen Ridgewood’s commercial ecosystem.
Key areas of focus for the RBA under Grillo’s leadership will include:
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Strategic Promotion: Elevating the Village’s profile to attract regional visitors and shoppers.
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Infrastructure & Infrastructure Advocacy: Advising on much-needed improvements to local signage, parking solutions, and zoning policies.
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Streamlined Collaboration: Serving as the central liaison bridging the gap between local business owners, municipal government, and regional or state agencies.
A Collaborative Vision for Growth
The sentiment surrounding the new appointment is overwhelmingly positive, with both local government and the business community eager to collaborate on sustainable economic solutions.
“This SID has tremendous potential, along with meaningful opportunities to make a lasting impact,” Grillo shared. “I already feel strong support from Village leadership, and I am confident we can achieve great things together with our partners.”
With a dedicated Special Improvement District framework now fully active and an experienced economic developer at the helm, Ridgewood’s business community is uniquely positioned for a vibrant, prosperous future.
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Tags: Local Business, Economic Development, Ridgewood NJ, Special Improvement District, Community Leadership, Bergen County Business
Get rid of paid parking
Double the fines for overtime parking to make up for the revenue
You might attract more customers
How does this all cost? Is he getting paid?
And who’s paying him?
It would be nice if the article mentioned how much he is being paid.
It’s probably covered by paid parking.
He was making 112k in Short Hills. I doubt he would accept less than that here
Parking and zoning changes.. ..hmmm, Isn’t the mayor/landlord on the RBA Board? Smells fishy
His LinkedIn says he’s an urban planner. More high density housing coming
He seems to have a good dentist and a solid sense of fashion…. I like the bold vertical stripes and have a couple of suits that are similiar.
How much are we paying this dude and what specifically is he trying to accomplish?
Spending more money that they don’t have, ridiculous, upper management is getting too heavy. What’s losing at $7 million in tax money from Valley how can they keep on spending money like this. And yet they still wanna float more big bonds. The poor taxpayers and then employees are gonna be hurting.
Thumbs up, baby thumbs up, wake up you jackasses
The much-touted upcoming offer to have seniors pay $75 a year to park “free” downtown is insulting. If they want to encourage seniors to stay, call it $10 a year. That’s more than I pay already, because I’d rather go elsewhere most of the time for free, easy parking. While it’s true that downtown restaurants and other businesses would benefit if seniors were encouraged to park downtown, the initial proposed rate (or half of it for the rest of this year) is ridiculously high. I doubt that I have spent that much to park downtown altogether in the more than half century I have lived here. Go ahead and charge $75 and see how many people participate.
Village employees get ready, Big change is coming. Big rotation it’s going to happen, everyone will allow the opportunity to work on yacht waste, sanitation, recycling, oh yes, get your sneakers, ready it’s time for everyone to get exercise.
I’ve seen nearly 40 years of this stuff, and for the most part, nothing changes. Commercial tax rates, way more than residential rates, are crazy, driving up COSTS – driving out businesses. A couple of inadvertent parking tickets years ago have kept me out of town for years. Just the truth. This is the root of the CBD problem, and no one will be addressing either of them. Never did. Thus, nothing will change – again.
Ditto that, but add ten years. Same shyte.
But they had they time and $$ to go after that little kid’s tree house.