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MCG NEWS RELEASE: East Tennessee Community Design Center Hires Blasius, Long-Time Knoxville Planner/Developer

MCG NEWS RELEASE: East Tennessee Community Design Center Hires Blasius, Long-Time Knoxville Planner/Developer

December 15, 2014

Knoxville, TN – The East Tennessee Community Design Center announced today that it has hired Wayne Blasius as Executive Director.

Blasius, a native of Chicago and graduate of the University of Tennessee with a master’s degree in Planning, has been a resident of Knoxville for over 35 years. Prior to joining ETCDC, Blasius’s career has been balanced in both the public and private sectors, spanning community development, planning, construction, real estate development and management, plus consulting in real estate, strategic planning and energy management.

His firm, InSite Development, spearheaded notable downtown redevelopments like The Phoenix and Mast General Store/Gallery Lofts. Under former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, Blasius served as Deputy Community Development Director. He has also been a supervising planner at MPC, a vice president at Denark Construction, and a consultant at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In addition to the ETCDC, Blasius has served the community in volunteer roles with Knox Heritage, Leadership Knoxville, Introduction Knoxville, Central Business Improvement District, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Friends of Literacy, Good Shepherd Counseling Center and Dogwood Arts Festival.

Board president, Mary Holbrook, said, “Wayne’s passion for planning and design and his heart for service will help the ETCDC continue to fulfill its mission in East Tennessee. His background and long-time community involvement made him an excellent fit for us. We’re delighted to have him on board, and we are looking forward to his leadership.”

Blasius said, “I have long admired the good work of the ETCDC in our community, and I have served as an ETCDC volunteer. Now I have the opportunity to work ‘on the inside’ to help to make ETCDC the go-to authority on excellent community design. It is an incredible opportunity for me to join an organization with such an enduring legacy. I am grateful and excited to work with this great team and help to move ETCDC forward.”

ABOUT ETCDC

Founded in 1970 by the late Bruce McCarty, ETCDC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to make East Tennessee a better place to live and work by bringing professional design and planning assistance to communities and organizations lacking resources. ETCDC offers its services through the pro bono contributions of area architects, landscape architects, planners, engineers, and other professionals. ETCDC has assisted in a diverse range of projects, from traffic calming in neighborhoods to planning for Knoxville’s new urban wilderness. The sixteen Tennessee counties served by the East Tennessee Community Design Center are: Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott, Sevier and Union. Additional information is available at https://www.communitydc.org.