BSD director Tighe resigns for county job

Birmingham Shopping District (BSD) Executive Director Ingrid Tighe has tendered her resignation to the board of directors, BSD president Geoffrey Hockman announced at its monthly board meeting Thursday, December 3, as she has accepted a job as Oakland County Economic Development Director.

The appointment must be confirmed by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners which is scheduled to meet next Monday at 5 p.m. An announcement of the proposed appointment was reportedly to be made to county employees today.

Tighe's last day with the BSD is December 31, 2020. The city of Birmingham will be posting for a new executive director on the city's website on Monday, December 7.

Tighe has been BSD executive director since April 2017. Prior to the BSD, she was the business development manager for Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and employment analyst for Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, promoting Michigan as a competitive place for business investment and job growth, managing company growth and expansion projects, and implementing a veteran hiring implementation program.

The BSD is funded through a special assessment on all commercial, non-residential property in areas of downtown and other business districts of Birmingham. Besides special events, Tighe worked with merchants, business owners, retailers, landlords, and commercial real estate brokers, and had the added challenges of two large road reconstruction projects which impacted merchants and businesses, the Old Woodward and Maple Road reconstruction projects, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tighe's new position at Oakland County as director of economic development oversees a combined budget of $10 million, a total number of employees of 65, with five directly reporting to the director. In her new position, Tighe will lead and work collaboratively with various county departments and programs as well as local, national, and international community partners to achieve immediate development needs, while establishing forward looking goals. She will answer directly to Sean Carlson, deputy executive director to Oakland County Executive David Coulter.