The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York has named a Capital Region business leader as its next CEO. Tom Nardacci takes over for Molly Nicol, who has led the food bank since 2021. Nicol plans to retire August 1st. That day, Nardacci will take the helm of the nonprofit that serves 23 counties, helping to feed 350,000 people each month.
Nardacci spoke with WAMC’s Jim Levulis.
Nardacci: This is something that is a long time coming for me professionally. I've owned my own businesses for the last 20 years in the Capital Region but I really started my career in public service and I’ve really been thinking about a return to community service for a while. I'm just so happy to find an organization with a mission like the food bank, the cause of alleviating hunger, and I just think is a perfect fit for me right now and I'm really excited to join them.
Levulis: I think it's sort of interesting to note that your grandparents owned and operated Nardacci's Broadway Food Market for 50 years. So it's returning to the roots in a sense?
That's really at the heart of it all for me. So aside from the work I've done professionally, and the volunteer work I've done the community. It all started really on Broadway in Rensselaer. That's where I grew up. My grandfather was a butcher. My grandparents owned the store for 50 years. And it was the center of our neighborhood in the center of that community. Food insecurity was all around me. I knew people who were food insecure and my grandparents never turned anyone away. And in a lot of ways, my grandparents fed our neighborhood. Personally, my mom's a single mom, you know, she worked multiple jobs and lucky for me I had access to my grandparents’ store. Now as an adult, I can see back and see how fortunate I really was growing up in that environment, and my grandparents are in my thoughts every day, as I pursued this position and as I start it.
To your professional background that you mentioned, you ran a communications firm and a business incubator in the Capital Region. How do you think that work could translate into this role with the food bank?
Yeah, it's a great question. I feel like, no matter what I've done over the last 20 years in business, I always made sure that the things that I was doing were geared towards community impact. So, whether it was the communications company, or whether it was the business incubation programming and the startup support systems we built it Troy, it was all about community impact. So, I really made that a lifeblood of our small businesses. I think it translates really well. I think the things that I bring to the Regional Food Bank right now is I know a lot of people and I've worked with a lot of people throughout the service area, which is really large, it's 23 counties. So, it's all of northeastern New York, from Plattsburgh and the Canadian border down to Putnam and Rockland. And I've done work throughout the state so I know people throughout the service area. I think that helps. And I think also having that innovative approach, the idea to come in and kind of assess things and not change things that are working great, but also to have an eye on the innovation. And I think that's one of the things I will bring. The food bank is in a place where there is an increased demand, and there are some gaps. So, what are the innovative things we have to do to fill those gaps? And that's some of the things I'll be working on.
To that point, do you have sort of a to-do list for the food bank when you assume the post in the summer?
So, I think first and foremost is there's a phenomenal team that's incredibly dedicated. There's a phenomenal board. They've done such great work and so I think, number one it's just understanding how the place operates, how all the parts interact. So, I think that number one is just really getting my arms around that before you start thinking about other things to do. So, one has just come in and do a good job as they've done. And there is an increased demand. I think during the pandemic we saw how quickly people's circumstances changed, right? We saw how someone lost a job or inflation and how it affected someone. I think first and foremost, it's getting my arms around the organization, meeting everyone, but then also understanding the whole service area.
And you mentioned that increased demand during the pandemic that was sort of coupled with these supply chain issues across a lot of industries impacting, hitting at the same time, in a sense. What's your understanding of that situation as it stands right now?
Yeah, I think those two things together, I think the increased demand, which hasn't receded, right? So, the pandemic brought this increased demand and the levels of need have stayed really high. And I think supply chain is something that's a challenge for organizations like this and businesses across the United States. Sourcing is a big priority, sourcing good food, wholesome foods, your vegetables, you know, that's a real priority right now. And that's something that the staff that are now working on every day, and something that I'll work on, as well as how do we ensure that we have the healthy foods and the good foods, and that's what we're getting, and then sending out throughout the area.
I think it's important to mention that while the Regional Food Bank distributes to about 850 charitable organizations, it is a nonprofit itself. You mentioned your connections throughout the region, your work in the region. Do you think that could help in terms of making sure that the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York is sound financially itself?
Yeah, that's a great point. And I think that there's a really committed, expansive donor base. There's a huge successful volunteer program. But the increased demand does require us to do more, and to find more partners. And so, one of the things that I'm going to be working on is identifying and finding new collaborations. Finding new donors, finding new businesses that want to be part of this important mission. And that's something I'm looking forward to, and especially we have a huge expansion right now in the Hudson Valley. The current distribution center in the Hudson Valley can't sustain right now, all of the demand. So, we're building a new distribution center down there. Sixty percent of the food distributed in the Hudson Valley actually comes from Latham which puts a lot of pressure on costs, gas and things like that. So, the expansion in the Hudson Valley distribution is going to be really big. And that is a place where we really need to connect with more partners, more agencies, but also more corporate supporters and more individuals who care and who want to give.
