He’s a volunteer firefighter…‘scared to death’ of public speaking…has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do…won a prestigious Truman Scholarship…is enamored of Ultimate Frisbee and strategy games like Stratego…spent summers as a lifeguard, house painter, landscaper and dishwasher…and describes his life as ‘controlled chaos.’
  He’s Anthony Perno, the new 33-year old President and CEO of Cooper’s Ferry Development Association, the private, non profit corporation that has been at the heart of the efforts to mold the future of the City of Camden for the past quarter century.
  A South Jersey boy through and through, Perno was born in Stratford, grew up in Lindenwold (where his mother and father still live), went to Overbrook High School, met his wife Jennifer when they were both in college at TCNJ, went to law school at Rutgers-Camden, and now lives in Merchantville.
  As only the second chief executive in the storied history of CFDA, Perno follows in the footsteps of his mentor Tom Corcoran, who has moved on to a similar position on the Philadelphia side of the river as Mayor Michael Nutter’s appointee as new president of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.
  The father of two year old AJ (Anthony J. Perno, IV) and four month old Nicholas, Perno has been at CFDA since 1999, serving as a Project Manager for six years before becoming Vice President and COO in 2005.
  In his new role as President and CEO, he oversees a staff of eight with an annual operating budget of $1.6 million that is supplemented by approximately $5 million in projects each year.
  Perno’s business philosophy is “Prepare, Prepare, Prepare…and anticipate challenges before they arrive,” while his personal mottos are “Never listen to naysayers” and “Lead by example.”
  Perno believes that the best measure of success is “the quality of the people around you” and his greatest fear is “not living up to the expectations“ of those people.
  He considers Corcoran and lifelong friend Curtis Myers his mentors, but his favorite person is undoubtedly his wife Jennifer. A physical therapist with a private practice in Washington Township, Jennifer is “very organized” in contrast to his never-ending state of controlled chaos, says Perno with unrestrained admiration.
  While his self-description includes terms like “high energy” and “motivated,” in addition to “controlled chaos,” Perno’s friends says that he also has an almost unerring sense of how things work in the real world. Maybe that’s why his favorite things to do include not just Ultimate Frisbee, but also “strategy games” like Stratego, Settlers of Cataan, and Risk.
  The honor of which he is most proud is the Harry Truman Scholarship he earned at TCNJ (one of only 65 awarded nationally), and his “most important lesson learned” is that “you gotta give back to the bank, you cannot always make withdrawals…”
  Perno’s hobbies and avocations include reading, firefighting, and YMCA youth programs, such as Model UN and YAG.
  His favorite book is  A Prayer for a City, while his favorite movies include (Scary: Fallen (scary), A Few Good Men and Dead Poets Society (drama) and An American President (political comedy). No surprise then that his favorite TV show was Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing.
  If Perno could, invite five people (“real,” but living or dead) to dinner at his home, the five would be:
  • Robert Kennedy – “I’m interested to know about the decision making behind the scenes during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I also would enjoy his perspective on America and what he thought of where we were today as I think I citizenry has given up on big ideas.”
  • Harry Truman – “I would like to know more about his very down to earth roots and approach to policy. We know the buck stopped with him, but did he ever regret any of his decisions?”
  • Anthony J Perno Sr. – “I never had the pleasure of meeting my grandfather, but he would have known three of my other guests. Based on conversations over our dinner table growing up, I think he would have enjoyed spending an evening with them discussing his perspective of the day.”
  • Captain Chesley `Sully' Sullenberger III – “Talk about quick decision making with little time for mistakes. He personifies the idea that preparation in practice prevents blood during wars.”
  • Rosa Parks – “A woman who decided she was just too tired. I wonder if she truly realized that her decision would create the changes it did. She epitomizes the idea that anyone can be a change agent in this country if we only decide that we are too tired to let things remain as they are.”
  Not surprisingly, Perno’s own epitaph (as he would like it to be written) would be “Good Husband. Great Father.”
  Finally, if Perno you could do one thing to change South Jersey, it would be (again no surprise) to “improve Camden.”
  “A stronger Camden will create a stronger regional economy improving all of South Jersey,” says Perno. “Camden needs to once again achieve it regional presence by becoming a hub of economic activity for the region. This will be done through the development and expansion of Camden’s institutional and private partners (Rutgers University, Cooper Hospital, L-3 Communications, and Campbell Soup) as well as small business development (Technology Center).  In addition Camden’s neighborhoods will become neighborhoods’ of choice by improving quality of life, public safety and education,” Perno adds.
  Since CFDA's mission is to “coherently plan and implement high-quality urban redevelopment projects in order to help replenish Camden's depleted tax base and to create a significant number of jobs for city residents,” Perno will have the chance to do just that.
  Perno points out that since its creation in 1984, CFDA has successfully attracted and coordinated more than $500 million of private and public investment in the Camden waterfront. With its focused approach and persistence, CFDA has created a critical mass of both public and private development projects and has established the conditions under which private investment can now flourish.
  “CFDA has successfully put in place the building blocks for a vibrant, mixed-use waterfront community, which is anchored by family entertainment venues but will also include large scale residential, and commercial office elements and retail, dining, and entertainment,” says Perno.
  Among the high-profile projects in which CFDA has played a vital role are:
  · New Jersey State Aquarium (1992)
  · L-3 Communications (1992)
  · RiverLink Ferry (1992)
  · Tweeter Center (1995)
  · One Port Center (1997)
  · Camden Children's Garden (1999)
  · Campbell's Field (2001)
  · Victor Building (2004)
  · Adventure Aquarium (expansion and privatization of the NJ State Aquarium) (2005)
  CFDA has also completed numerous public infrastructure improvements on the waterfront such as Wiggins Waterfront Park, roads, utilities and public parking facilities which leverage additional development.
  “To date, these waterfront projects contribute close to $4 million in annual taxes to the City, which represents 18% of the City's overall tax collections, while generating in excess of 1,500 full-time equivalent jobs,” says Perno.
  “While the waterfront currently draws roughly two million visitors a year, market studies indicate the potential to grow this number to six million visitors with additional development and through the marketing of the Camden Waterfront as a unified tourist destination with current and planned attractions on Penn's Landing and in the historic district in Philadelphia,” Perno adds.
  The original concept, which is still viable, says Perno, was "Two Cities-One Waterfront” —linked by an intermodal transportation system that would include a light rail line, expanded ferry service and a cross-river aerial tram.
  While the tram is on hold, Perno says that the folks on the South Jersey side are ready to move forward whenever Philadelphia is ready.
  For the near term, though, Perno and CFDA are focused not just on the completion of development along the downtown Camden waterfront, but also on North Camden. Specifically, they are targeting the conversion of the North Camden waterfront, which has begun with the decision to raze Riverfront Prison and will continue all the way into the Cramer Hill neighborhood.
  “There’s a lot of work to be done…a lot of systemic issues,” adds Perno, ever the realist. “But I’m confident that the new administration (of Mayor Dana Redd) can make that happen.
  “I know that we can reconnect Camden’s neighborhoods to its waterways. And that’s our goal,” says Perno.
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Written By: Mike Willmann
Pictured: Anthony Perno, III