The Presidents Council has hired Nicholas Perry as its first CEO.

Perry comes to the Council from Mt. Pleasant NOW Development Corporation, a nonprofit community development agency located in Cleveland’s Ward 3, where he led the formation of two regional coalitions — The Southeast Merchants Coalition and the Cleveland Ten Point Coalition.

Perry, 51, previously served as a vice president of Pinkney-Perry Insurance, one of the nation’s oldest black-owned insurance agencies. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Central State University.

Perry’s hiring is an outgrowth of TPC’s strategic planning process which identified a need to strengthen and grow its management team as part of its goal of growing its impact in northeast Ohio. The Council recognized the need to increase its organizational capacity to expand its programming and foster the development of stronger businesses.

The Council was established in 1996 as an association of some of Cleveland’s larger black businesses. It has evolved over the years to focus on economic and business development, capital formation, and investment. It operates a nonprofit foundation, a business chamber with a reported 200 members, and a political action committee.

Perry, who has been on board about a week, is expected to meet with community stakeholders in the coming weeks to outline TPC’s growth plans.

Erica Penick, who has run the council’s operations for the last several years as executive director, is working with Perry to provide a smooth transition. Her last day with TPC will be September 16.

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