Rick Goff, the 13-year veteran leader of the City of Falls Church’s Economic Development Office. has announced that he will be retiring as of July 5, and the office’s main new hire, Ingrid Racine, currently out on maternity leave, has announced that she will not be returning, F.C. City Manager Wyatt Shields has announced.

In a memo to the City Council and key staff, Shields said that Goff “has provided steady leadership for our economic development efforts in the City for 13 years, facilitating almost a billion dollars in investment by the private sector in our commercial districts. He has been at the center of all of the negotiations for community benefits with each of the major projects that have been built in the City. He has helped the City evaluate projects in a professional and rigorous way, and the quality of his work has helped us all ‘get to yes.’” He added, “I have personally learned a great deal from Rick, and will miss his quiet, rock solid counsel and his friendship.

Concerning Racine, he wrote, “She has brought a great deal of energy and know-how to marketing the City over the past two years. She has built a great foundation in the Choose Falls Church web site, with its great commercial data base, and strong platform for telling the City story in an attractive and effective way. She has offered to help us through the coming months, as we transition.”

Shields said he will consult with the Economic Development Authority, the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce on “this important recruitment over the coming months…It is a very big job to fill.” An event to celebrate Goff’s work will be held prior to his July 5 departure.