Chuck’s Bio
Chuck D'Aprix is one of the North America's foremost experts on the economic revitalization of downtowns and traditional commercial districts. In addition, he has been a thought-leader on local economic development and has been at the forefront of most community economic revitalization movements over the last few decades. His consulting practices have drawn praise from clients and competitors alike.
Chuck has was tagged with the moniker “economic development maverick” for his ability to shake up the way we manage the local economic development process—especially in downtowns and commercial districts. As one Midwestern client put it, “Chuck D’Aprix can be called a lot of things such as creative, innovative, funny, change agent, and professional. One word I wouldn’t use is boring!”
He currently manages two consulting practices: Downtown Economics and The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project, and is a partner in Community Engagement and Charrettes Associates, all based in Richmond, VA. Chuck has consulted in approximately three-hundred communities nationally as a solo practitioner or as part of a team.
Chuck is tethered to his professional roots where he managed a Main Street™ program and several downtown and commercial district revitalization programs as well as local economic development agencies. As he often says, “I have been on the client’s side of the desk and am sensitive to the unique stress and pressure felt by Main Street™ Managers, City Managers and Economic Development Directors and City Planners. It helps to have been in their shoes.”
In fact, Chuck is once again in the client’s shoes as he started a Community Development Corporation in his Richmond, Virginia neighborhood. This organization, Innovate Fulton, Inc., designed to revitalize the commercial corridor in the Greater Fulton Neighborhood in Richmond’s East End. Chuck works part-time with volunteers to ensure that this long-ignored commercial corridor comes back to life. He said, “Managing Innovate Fulton continues to allow me to relate to my clients - I am facing the challenges that many of them do.”
Called by one newspaper, “A man of no small enthusiasms,” and “indefatigable” by another, his approach to community revitalization is perhaps best summed up by former Vice President, Al Gore, who said, “Chuck D'Aprix is not tethered to the same old way of developing a local economy but is a man of new ideas and innovations.” Noted urbanist Richard Florida called him “an urban entrepreneurship doer.”
Always the first person to hold any position for which he was hired on staff, Chuck has finely-honed entrepreneurial instincts and is an accomplished community change-agent. Often quoted in newspapers, journals, and blogs on matters related to local economic development and downtown regeneration, he has been a frequent guest on radio, television, and webinars, and has spoken to dozens of conferences in the U.S. and beyond.
An accomplished and entertaining presenter, he has been engaged to keynote conferences dedicated to downtown revitalization, local economic development, smart growth, entrepreneurship as a community revitalization tool, retail incubation, and incentives for business development
Chuck has written book chapters, journal articles, book reviews, white papers, briefing papers and speeches for mayors and governors and is hard at work on a book entitled, "Downtown Revitalization: Stories from the Frontlines with a finish date of “before I die.” He was a researcher on the book Big Box Swindle by nationally known author Stacy Mitchell.
Chuck is an avid researcher with respect to downtown revitalization, commercial district regeneration, entrepreneurship and urban planning. He continues his formal education as necessary. He holds’ two master’s degrees, certification in Charrette and Public Meeting Management, and a certificate in Urban Design and Placemaking. In fact, this year he is taking classes in emerging GIS technology.