The Bronx Chamber of Commerce will honor Rob Walsh, newly appointed interim president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, at an upcoming Irish heritage celebration and networking event on Tuesday, March 21 in Woodlawn.
The focus of the event, which will take place at the Rambling House bar on Katonah Avenue, will be the impact of Irish-owned businesses on the Bronx.
As for Walsh, he also serves on the board of directors for The Bronx Chamber of Commerce and currently teaches at Columbia University, School of Public and International Affairs. His segment “The Bottom Line for Small Business” airs on 1010 WINS Radio where he is also the moderator of the Small Business Challenge which recognizes the work of entrepreneurs in the New York metropolitan area.
From 2014-2018, he served on the faculty at Baruch College’s School of Public and International Affairs, where he also served as the faculty director of the executive master’s degree in public administration program.
In January 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Walsh the commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). During his 12 years there, SBS became one of the city’s most innovative agencies in serving the needs of its 200,000 small businesses. Walsh re-energized the city’s business improvement districts and created an award-winning neighborhood leadership program in partnership with the Coro Foundation.
Under his leadership, seven NYC Business Solutions Centers were established that secured more than $200 million for small businesses in the last six years of his tenure. He created a wide array of entrepreneurial courses and forged new partnerships with groups, including the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, Interise and the Kauffman Foundation.
And from 1989 to April 1997, Walsh played an instrumental role in the revitalization of one of New York’s great neighborhoods, as executive director of the Union Square Partnership. During the ’80s, he worked in Mayor Ed Koch’s administration.
He began his career in public service as a New York City urban fellow, a program he later directed.
Walsh holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in public affairs from Fordham University. He also participated in the senior executives in state and local government program at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Tickets for the event, which kicks off at 6 p.m., are $20 for chamber members and $25 for non-members.
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