Riverhead native Diane Tucci is named BID group’s new executive director

(Updated) Riverhead native Diane Tucci was appointed executive director of the Riverhead BID Management Association.

The organization’s board of directors made the appointment at a special meeting Wednesday evening. The appointment was on the agenda for the board’s last regular meeting on Sept. 21, but no vote could be taken for lack of a quorum.

“Diane will be a great help to the board and a great asset to downtown,” BID Management Association president Steven Shauger said.

“I’m thrilled and excited,” Tucci said about working for the BID Management Association, a nonprofit organization that contracts with the Business Improvement District to advance downtown Riverhead’s economic vitality.

Tucci recently launched Main Street Agency, a marketing and promotion business specializing in helping small businesses and community groups “connect with the community.” She worked for Alive on 25, the summer street festival that drew thousands downtown in its inaugural season this year.

Her effort and the festival’s success led BID officials to think about asking Tucci to fill the executive director spot, which has been vacant for years — except for part of 2013, when then-president Raymond Pickersgill served a brief stint in the post. Tucci will work for the organization part-time, 20 hours a week, Shauger said.

While Tucci brings experience in marketing, graphic design, web design and photography to table, her Riverhead roots and enthusiasm for the community are what sealed the deal, according to officials.

“Her attitude and her drive, her desire to step up and help the community — growing up in this community I can relate to that and having more people like that involved is only beneficial,” Shauger said. “Everything is only going to get bigger and better.”

“Diane did a phenomenal job with many different aspects of Alive on 25 — marketing, organizing, coordinating with vendors,” the group’s president said.

“She knows the town, loves the town and is a very hard worker,” said Riverhead Town Councilman John Dunleavy, who serves as liaison to the BID Management Association. “I got to know her through Alive on 25 and she really impressed me.”

Tucci, 46, says marketing and promotion is her passion — especially when it involves her hometown. A fourth-generation Riverheader, she wants to help create a prosperous future for the next generation, she said. Her three children attend Riverhead public schools and she wants to play a part in making Riverhead the kind of place where there will be more opportunity for young adults starting out.

“It’s a very exciting time in Riverhead, particularly downtown. There’s a lot of good things happening and a lot of good changes coming,” Tucci said.

The new BID president “really represents the change the community needs,” Tucci said. “Alive on 25 is a great example of that. He brought it about. He worked tirelessly on it,” she said.

“There are some incredible people who’ve invested a lot, both financially and emotionally. I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect the action taken by the BIDMA board after its initial publication