Research Triangle Foundation CEO Bob Geolas is departing

Bob Geolas, who has presided over an ongoing effort to remake Research Triangle Park in his nearly five years as president and CEO of the not-for-profit that manages the iconic park, is departing the organization.

Smedes York, chairman of the Research Triangle Foundation, declined to say why Geolas is leaving.

“You need to talk to Bob,” York said in an interview Thursday. He added that the timing of Geolas’s departure “is not absolutely set.”

York said that Geolas’s departure doesn’t signal a rollback of any of the major initiatives Geolas has been knee-deep in at the 7,000-acre park, which boasts more than 200 companies and 50,000 workers.

“I have positive things to say about Bob,” York said. “He has created a great vision for the park and we are poised to move forward.”

Geolas, who has headed the foundation since November 2011, said it was time for him to do something else.

“This has been a great run. I feel good about it,” said Geolas, 52.

He added that he had “several conversations going” about what his next step might be. “I’ve got a couple of really exciting things I’m looking at.”

With Geolas at the helm the park developed a master plan to transform itself from a series of self-contained corporate campuses into a place where people can not only work but also live and socialize. The park also assumed control of Park Center, an aging office park at N.C. 54 and Davis Drive, and at the outset of this year began the $50 million first phase of redeveloping that property with public spaces – including a dog park, a sculpture garden and 5,000-seat amphitheater.

Under his watch, the foundation also experimented with leasing to startups and small businesses in a building it dubbed The Frontier at 800 Park Office Drive. In August the foundation declared that endeavor such a success that it is expanding the concept to other buildings to create a Frontier campus.

“I think he’s done a great job,” said Ted Conner, vice president of economic development at the Durham Chamber of Commerce. “Bob has been a dynamic and visionary leader of RTP. ... His vision of the park in many ways is transforming RTP.”

Ken Atkins, who headed Wake County's economic development efforts for more than 16 years before retiring at the end of 2013, worked with Geolas and his staff when companies were interested in potentially relocating to the Triangle or expanding to the region.

“I can tell you he and his team did an excellent job of not only marketing the park, but marketing the entire region,” said Atkins, who today is director of economic development in the Raleigh office of the Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton law firm.

Geolas joined the foundation after more than seven years as executive director of Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research, which was in its infancy when he signed up. ICAR attracted nearly $250 million in investments and 2,300 announced jobs during his tenure there.

Prior to that, Geolas worked at N.C. State University’s Centennial Campus for a decade and led it from 2000 to 2004.

Geolas said he anticipates staying on at the foundation “a month or two” more.

“I want to help the foundation transition accordingly, but I also think it doesn’t help to stay too long,” he added.

Geolas, who is married with four children, is planning to stay in the area.

“This is our roots, this is our home,” he said.

York declined to discuss the foundation’s plans regarding Geolas’s successor.

“I don’t want to say anything about that yet,” he said.

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Research Triangle Foundation CEO Bob Geolas is departing."