Q&A with Joseph Syrnick, President and CEO of Schuylkill River Development Corporation

As the former Chief Engineer and Surveyor for the City of Philadelphia, Schuylkill River Development Corporation’s President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Syrnick came to his position eight years ago, already famous for being someone who could get things done. Syrnick recognized that same energy in the organization’s board of directors, and took on the CEO position at the SRDC, whose function is to revitalize and maintain land for recreational use along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

What were some of the differences you experienced, coming from city government and moving into the nonprofit world? 

I had a full 35-year career at the City of Philadelphia — when I left, I was the city’s Chief Engineer and Surveyor. I was basically in charge of bridges and highways, and surveying in the city.

About eight years ago, I got a call from a friend who told me this job was open. I was happy as a lark with the city, so I said, “Why are you calling me?” And she said, “Joe, do me a favor and pull up the list of the board and tell me what organization around Philadelphia has a board like this, and can get more work done than SRDC?” And it’s true. We have a very active board of directors who are very engaged. We’re able to get a tremendous amount of work done.

And you went from engineer to helming a nonprofit?

Well, of course, they were looking for a CEO, not an engineer. A rainmaker. Someone who could go out and get a lot of grants. I had to convince SRDC that they needed me. They had a wonderful plan for Schuylkill Banks that they were on the brink of implementing. I persuaded them that they needed someone — a team — who could carry out those plans. Fortunately, they agreed with me.

Was it culture shock for you?

I had roughly 350 people under me at the city, and when I came to SRDC I had 2 people. So this is much more hands on, and much more grassroots. You feel like you’re actually doing the work again. But part of your job description still requires being a rainmaker.

Does your experience as an engineer inform that in any way?

When we go in for grants, we measure the success of the trails along the Schuylkill River, for example, with metrics. We mostly don’t have to tell people. We show them how many people are using it. So, we use numbers. We had 4th of July celebrations and there were tens of thousands of people on the trail for the fireworks. Those numbers are very persuasive.

What were some of the first programs you worked on after you accepted the position?

The master plan for the first trail along the Schuylkill — from Martin Luther King to Locust — had been developed, and the very first real project was the landscaping of the original trail — we built it at the city. I was part of that. But it had not been landscaped, so the trail was heavily used, but it looked a little stark. We had the trail, but we did not have what we call “The Green Way.” So we started by adding a lot of trees and landscaping.

What does that master plan look like now for SRDC?

Our area of interest in building the trail is from the Fairmount Dam, 8 miles down to the Delaware River, all along the Schuylkill. And that’s the plan, to build it all the way down. But the land does not become available sequentially. The goal is to take whatever land is available, so if we have a section of property further down river and we can find funding, we’ll build that section because, in my mind, it creates an urgency to connect them.

Aside from land availability, what other sorts of obstacles are there to developing the trail?

I think the economy is a killer. There’s a lot less money, both private and public. You have a lot of nonprofits all competing for the same dollars. But in going after the private dollars, some would advocate for healthy living, but I would argue that it’s an economic development engine. You get that trail down there, and you’re going to make that land more valuable, especially for residential. But when the private money dries up, those opportunities dry up.

It sounds like a bit of a waiting game for the private funding. How do you build value within the SRDC while you wait to build the trail?

Pretty much immediately, the board was pushing to have some sort of programming. It was fairly easy to do movies along the river, for example. In the early years we did concerts, but they weren’t as popular as the movies and more expensive. The kayak tours have been successful and the riverboat has been the most successful — it’s not running this year, but we’re looking for ways to have something by the end of this year.

This is about the river. The reason SRDC is successful is that people love the water. They don’t have to be in it, but they want to see boats on the river, birds. That’s what people want. So we try to find ways to utilize that.

Photos by Andrew Reiner