New Great Falls, MT BID director resigns fter just one official day on the job. Top candidate surfaces in search for new GFDA president

New downtown Business Improvement District Director Jeff Graff has quit after just one official day on the job.

Graff told BID board members that he had just learned that a Colorado college had accepted him into a scholarship Ph.D. program that would pay for his schooling while he taught classes.

Graff, 39, was hired in mid-June for the $50,000-a-year post, and spent a couple of days in late June training with Greg Madson before Madson quit to teach full time at the University of Great Falls.

Graff worked Monday of this week, before telling BID members of his new opportunity, said Alison Fried, vice chairman of the BID board.

“We put three months of work into finding a good candidate, and I felt Jeff would have done a great job,” she said. “But this was by no means a malicious act on his part. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have his advanced schooling paid for while he taught. Sometimes you start down one path in life and another opportunity opens up.”

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Top candidate surfaces in search for new GFDA president
By JAMES E. LARCOMBE Tribune Business Editor

A top candidate to be the next president of the Great Falls Development Authority has surfaced, but the job has not been filled, officials said Wednesday.

Interviews for the job leading the nonprofit economic development group wrapped up at mid-day but no formal job offer was made, said Owen Robinson, the GFDA board chairman.

But the search committee found a clear favorite among the three unnamed contenders for the job.

"We are very excited about this person and think he would be an excellent choice for Great Falls," Robinson said.

But the candidate asked for time to have his wife and family visit the city before any additional employment talk takes place.

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