Wayne Shepperd likes to think in terms of team sports, of team building and team participation ”“ even when he talks about his position as director of economic development for the city of Danbury. “I learned more about life from sports than anything else,” he said.
As the economic development director, Shepperd sees his role as building a team and coaching it through a series of touchdowns ”“ or home runs or baskets ”“ to a winning conclusion. “Growing up, my dad had me playing baseball and basketball constantly, in a good way,” he said. “I learned about teamwork, communication and leadership,” all the things that prepared him for his career in newspapers and for his position with the city.
Shepperd had retired from The News-Times in Danbury in 2005 after 33 years with the daily paper. He was 55 “and I debated whether this retirement thing was enjoyable,” he said. “Golf was good, but I”™m not that good a golfer.” But playing golf did put him in the right place at the right time.
“I was golfing one day and the mayor hopped into my golf cart and said, ”˜Hey, I”™ve got an opening. What would you think of director of economic development for the city?”™ My answer was that if it”™s going to be fun, I”™ll do it.”
The mayor, Mark Boughton, had created an economic task force a year earlier, and was scouting around for a director to coordinate economic activities and identify areas for growth. Shepperd assumed that role two years ago this month, just a few months after leaving the paper.
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Bigger teams
He joined The News-Times in 1971 as a sports writer. “I guess it was the sports job that attracted me,” he said. In fact, he was hired twice for the position. He had graduated from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and began looking for a job as a teacher. “I guess I wasn”™t good enough,” he said with humor of that dead end. “Other people were getting jobs in teaching, but I didn”™t.”
Shepperd took a factory job in his hometown of Derby and began looking for openings at newspapers, especially in the sports department. “I could always write,” he said of his innate skills, “and I had a great interest in sports.” He happened upon an opening on the sports desk at The News-Times, applied for the position and was hired ”“ twice ”“ for the same spot. “The same day I was hired, I went home and there was a letter from the Army Reserves ordering me to Fort Ord in California.” Six months later he applied for the sports writing job again, and started on the desk in 1972.
Shepperd spent nine years on the sports desk before beginning a climb through the newsroom to city editor, then managing editor before starting a management-training program that exposed him to the totality of newspaper operations, becoming general manager ”“ roughly the equivalent of a chief operating officer ”“ and then publisher.
“Each time I had a bigger team of people to deal with,” he said. As publisher, the team he worked with was the largest. “I interacted with the community and brought the community into the newspaper by creating a reader advisory group.” He joined a service organization, became chairman of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce and joined the United Way board, putting him in face-to-face contact with the region”™s business and nonprofit communities as chairman of its fundraising committee. “I gained a comprehensive knowledge of our city,” he said. “I met some great people and established more team members as I went on.”
By the time he retired in 2005, he was ”“ as are most newspaper publishers ”“ known and visible in the community with a working knowledge of the city”™s economy.
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Future growth
During the past two years, Shepperd has been working behind the scenes to encourage established businesses to remain in the city and attract new companies. Among his successes as a team player: helping convince MannKind Pharmaceuticals to remain in Danbury instead of moving to California to build its new manufacturing operations and, with it, creating 400 new jobs.
More recently, Shepperd met with the management team of Jetera, a startup company that moved from Ridgefield to prepare for its expected employment growth into the 2,000 range over the next few years. “Will that happen?” Shepperd asks rhetorically. “I don”™t know, but its incumbent upon me to try to make that happen,” and to happen in the city.
Danbury”™s diverse economic foundations ”“ everything from corporate headquarters to small manufacturing operations with just a handful of employees ”“ “allows us to stay upbeat and relatively successful,” Shepperd said. “I don”™t want to say we”™re completely recession proof, but because of our diversity, we”™re not linked to one industry.”
Danbury “is a very attractive site for corporate people,” he said, with “several corporations” scouting out sites on the city”™s west side for possible relocation, he said. “There is continued interest from outside corporations large and small because my phone rings with people who want to come here. I thought I”™d be on the phone trying to convince them, but Danbury sort of sells itself. There”™s till growth in our future, and appropriate growth.”
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