Bay Park Conservancy adds first full-time CFO

In another step of growing an executive team, the Bay Park Conservancy recently named Steve Germaine as the nonprofit organization’s first full-time CFO. 

Germaine will report to Founding CEO AG Lafley until the new president and CEO Stephanie Crockatt joins in June 2023. The conservancy is responsible for planning, developing, operating and maintaining The Bay, a $200 million project on 53 acres on Sarasota Bay in downtown Sarasota.

“Steve is a seasoned accounting and financial manager with more than 20 years of experience as the financial head of a major for-profit business and with significant nonprofit experience,” Lafley says in a news release. “He is well qualified to lead, manage and deliver the breadth and depth of financial management, accounting and reporting that The Bay Park Conservancy will need as it continues to expand and grow.”

Germaine has served as controller before becoming the vice president of finance and CFO of the largest division of Timex Corp for the past 20 years. His financial experience spans large and mid-size publicly and privately held companies in various manufacturing sectors. 

“I’m excited about elevating the finance function of The Bay Park Conservancy to its highest level so it can meet the evolving and growing needs of its internal team, its network of external partners, and importantly, the park guests and supportive donors of The Bay,” Germaine says.

The current CFO Tony Gamelin will stay on through the transition over the next few months. Until recently, the nonprofit's leadership had been on a volunteer basis. 

The park’s first phase, a 14-acre area, opened last October. In May, development of the next 14 acres will begin. That phase alone is estimated to cost $65 million with the entire park costing between $175-200 million. It’s pegged to take eight to 10 years to complete.