Michael Redpath has been recognized for being the first graduate of Rutgers University’s new five month long certification program for managers of managed business districts.

    Redpath (on right in photo) was presented his certification by Seth Grossman (center) and Robin Reneestra Bryant Ph.D, two of the creators of the certification program, during a Downtown Toms River Farmers Market.  The program is a joint effort of the New Jersey Managed District Association (NJMDA) and The Rutgers-Newark National Center for Public Performance (NCPP) and is believed to be the world’s first on-line training vehicle for business district management.  The program includes studies of business improvement districts, social capital, network governance, strategic planning, and performance measurement and evaluation.

    “I am committed to the belief that communities must be learning communities and the public administrators who serve them must be lifelong learners, Redpath stated.  “There is a wealth of knowledge throughout the world regarding excellence in public administration and we can never believe that we have learned it all.  We have an obligation to continue to improve our knowledge and level of service.  Likewise communities must be continually learning how to function better as communities and in supporting the lifelong learning of all members of the community,” he explained.

    Redpath also recently completed the Smart Choices Leadership Institute, a four-day program to develop leadership in smart growth communities. The institute was presented by the Municipal Land Use Center at the College of New Jersey.  He also received his Master of Arts and Professional Studies, with an emphasis in organizational theory and behavior, from Thomas Edison State College last year.

    The executive has been involved in community development at the Jersey Shore, particularly in Ocean County, for more than three decades.  Redpath is Executive Director of Downtown Toms River (the Toms River Business Improvement District) and Interim Executive Director of the Spring Lake Business Improvement District. He served as Executive Vice President of the organization that produced the Benihana and Walsh Offshore Grands Prix in Point Pleasant Beach. He is a founder of the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey and one of its first presidents. He also served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Amusement Association for nearly a decade. While Director of Public Affairs for the Borough of Seaside Heights, he brought the MTV summer house to that community in 1998 and 2002 and also brought the summer tryouts for the United States Bobsled Team there for several years.  He spent a year with the Trump Organization producing the World Championships of Offshore Powerboat Racing at Trump Castle and went on to be involved in producing Beach Fest in Atlantic City. 

    NCPP is the research and service arm of the Rutgers-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA). It is known nationally and internationally for its research and training on performance measurement, performance improvement and e-governance.  NJMDA is a professional association founded by and established to meet the needs of business district managers and their affiliates.

    “The Business District Management Certification Program is a natural progression of NCPP’s research and education infrastructure: providing Internet-based innovative training on public-private partnership management, and is accessible worldwide,” explains Dr. Marc Holzer, Dean of the SPAA and founding director of NCPP.  “The certification program is designed to professionalize the emerging quasi-governmental field of business district management.  It is also suitable for public officials and non-profit managers working with or seeking affiliation with business improvement districts (BIDs) and other managed business districts such as “Main Street” programs,” Holzer went on to say.

    To earn the business district management certification, registrants must successfully complete four distinct modules, each having a duration of five weeks.  Every learning module is grounded in public administration and embraces the interdisciplinary nature of managed business districts.  In a user-friendly Internet-based format, instructors lecture and pose questions to which students respond in a threaded discussion and through weekly written assignments and problem-solving exercises.  The modules are constructed to help establish a public administration framework for business districts in local public service delivery, while emphasizing network governance of citizen-driven economic, community, and business development.

    Redpath is the Chief Inspiration Officer of Redpath and Associates, LLC, a consulting firm that focuses on community development. He was instrumental in the 2006 effort that changed the name of Dover Township to Township of Toms River. He is on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Downtown New Jersey, New Jersey’s organization of downtowns, Main Streets, and organizations and individuals that serve them. Redpath is a long-time member of the Ocean County Tourism Advisory Council. He is also active in the Monmouth Ocean Development Council, having served as a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of its Culture and Tourism Committee. Redpath is married to the Reverend Valerie Redpath, an Episcopal priest, and has lived in Toms River for nearly 40 years. He is an elected member of the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, the Bishop’s committee of advice and consent, and is an active member of the Diocesan Stewardship Commission, Commission on Ministry, and Committee on Lifelong Christian Formation.