City to City Exchange to Minneapolis-Saint Paul Speaker Bios and Session Information MONDAY WHAT A VIEW! PRIVATE/PUBLIC COLLABORATION IN URBAN RENEWAL The development of Gold Medal Park, the Guthrie and Private Sector partnerships • Jay Cowles, Principal, Knudsen/Cowles LLC, Itasca Project member • Page Cowles, board member and immediate past Chair of The Trust for Public Land • Matt Kucharski, President, Padilla Jay Cowles International Market Square 275 Market Street, Suite 274B Minneapolis Minnesota 55405
[email protected] http://www.greenminneapolis.org Jay is a board member of Green Minneapolis, the newly established parks and greening conservancy serving downtown Minneapolis, and of Mississippi Park Connection, the nonprofit partner to the national park which flows for 72 miles through the heart of the metro area. He is a former chair of the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation, which led efforts to establish Landmark Plaza and renovate Harriet Island Regional Park in downtown Saint Paul. Jay is also a Trustee of Minnesota State (Colleges and Universities), and serves on several advisory boards to the University of Minnesota. He is a founding member of the Itasca Project, a business-led regional leadership collaboration, as well as an executive committee member of the Minneapolis Regional chamber of Commerce and the Minneapolis Downtown Council. Jay's career includes owning a small commercial printing business, roles in several media-related businesses, and leading a private family investment office. Jay worked at his family's business, Cowles Media Company, for many years, serving as Chair of the Board at the time of the company's sale (including the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper) in 1998.