Our Team
Steven C. Richards, Chief Executive Officer
Steven Richards recently completed a nearly six month assignment for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
working in New Orleans as a economic development and housing specialist working on long term community recovery
plans. Despite all the complexities of working in America’s greatest natural disaster, Richards devised a strategy
and funding program to provide a small business loan fund to local businesses having trouble finding available
capital to reopen. This Small Business Loan Fund will be the very first new money that is specifically devoted to
provide help to local small business in New Orleans.
Prior to his FEMA appointment, Richards spent the last 20 years working in banking and residential and commercial real estate development. As a former Senior Vice President of a small private investment and merchant banking firm in charge of real estate lending, Richards was responsible for underwriting and structuring many transactions ranging from $750,000 up to $100,000,000. As a consultant assisting clients with organizing their proposals for financing real estate projects, Richards has structured over $60m in real estate loans, mostly in acquisition and construction in various states.
Richards began his career in the insurance industry primarily focusing on property and casualty underwriting. He also spent seven years in working in Rhode Island state government, including managing offices in the Governor’s Office and the State Legislature. Additionally, he was often engaged as a political consultant and worked on many campaigns in many states including races for governor, US Congress and five Presidential candidates.
Alan J. Nazzaro, Chief Operating Officer
Alan J. Nazzaro served as an Economic Development Specialist (EDS) for the US Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) in Office of the Community Planning and Development. Following Hurricane Katrina, Nazzaro was
appointed to work with FEMA for Long Term Disaster Recovery Planning in Louisiana. As part of his
responsibilities, he was instrumental in establishing a $50 Million Business Recovery Loan Pool for the City of
New Orleans utilizing HUD’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee Funding Program. This pool of funding was outside of the
normal disaster recovery funds coming from the federal government and would have gone unutilized if not for
Nazzaro’s efforts. He also served as HUD liaison and technical advisor to FEMA staff on the regulatory
requirements for the use of CDBG funding in long-term disaster recovery.
Nazzaro brings a wealth of management experience to ARH from both the public and private sectors. He has a diverse background with experience in the fields of economic development, planning, redevelopment, land development and construction management. His work in management in both the public and private sectors gives him a unique perspective in approaching his work, particularly in the area of coordinating with financial institutions and the development community in the post-Katrina recovery environment on the Gulf Coast.
Before joining HUD, Nazzaro was the Executive Director of the Aurora Rehabilitation Authority for seven years in Colorado. The organization was responsible for Economic and Community Development efforts in the older, economically distressed portions of that city. Prior to holding that position, he spent almost a decade in management positions in private sector construction and land development companies in Colorado doing single family, multi-family residential and some commercial development projects.
William “Bill” Kappel, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations
Bill Kappel most recently served as Team Lead for FEMA’s Long Term Community Recovery Plan for St. Bernard Parish,
an area that was most severely impacted in the state of Louisiana. Every home, business and government facility was
flooded and the entire population of 67,000 people was displaced. He led a multi-disciplinary team of engineers,
planners, coastal and environmental scientists, and housing specialists that assessed community conditions and
systematically sought public input. The position also required extensive collaboration with public and community
leaders over the future of the parish. The work of the community was finalized by Kappel’s team in the Long Term
Community Development Plan, which prioritized critical needs and proposed detailed, specific projects of high
recovery value that formed the basis of an integrated reconstruction and growth plan for the parish.
Kappel has broad experience in both the public and private sectors mixed with some background in academia. Immediately preceding the storm he was employed by the Center for Hazards Assessment Response and Technology at the University of New Orleans. He was working on a doctorate in Urban Affairs specializing in Social Impact Assessment and was co-lead on a privately funded study of coastal restoration, its relation to the oil and gas industry of southern Louisiana, and the water resources funding authority of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also contributed to several other studies during his time at UNO.
Kappel has over 10 years experience in running his own small businesses that rehabilitated residential properties, designed and fabricated lighting fixtures, and included owning and managing a hardware store. He served as Director of National Marketing for the New Orleans regional economic development agency (MetroVision) and has years of experience in local government as a principal analyst to the New Orleans City Council. He also led an educational reform PAC in the 1990’s.
American Renaissance Partnerships
We can help with Financing, Insurance, and Design because of our strategic partnerships with others.