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NewBo City Market announces new executive director
Former Cedar Rapids Kernels general manager Scott Wilson will be the nonprofit’s next leader.
Oct. 1, 2025 10:06 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — NewBo City Market has found its next leader in longtime Cedar Rapids professional Scott Wilson.
The nonprofit’s board this week announced Wilson as its next executive director. In that role, he will oversee the nonprofit business incubator’s day-to-day operations and spearhead its ongoing expansion project.
“This new chapter in leadership comes at an exciting time for the market,” board chair Scott Swenson said in a news release. “Scott’s passion for community and his leadership experience make him the ideal person to guide the market through this next phase, (and) his energy and vision align perfectly with our mission to nurture small businesses and create a vibrant gathering place for everyone.”
Wilson replaces Julie Parisi, who resigned from the executive director role in August. He served most recently as general manager for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, a local minor league baseball team.
In the release, Swenson highlighted Wilson’s time with the team as a means of gaining “extensive experience in operations, retail management and community engagement.”
Wilson saw the organization through several challenges in his time as general manager — including the COVID-19-related cancellation of the 2020 season and subsequent structural damage the Kernels stadium sustained during a derecho. He also helped Cedar Rapids retain its MLB affiliation in 2021.
In his new role, Wilson aims to leverage lessons learned from his time with the team alongside his history of community engagement to move NewBo City Market forward and support its impending expansion.
That project — dubbed the Next Level local expansion — aims to bring additional shopkeeper space, an indoor performance stage, a community grocery store and an upper mezzanine level to the Cedar Rapids business incubator. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026.
“I look forward to working with our talented staff as we literally and figuratively take the market to the next level,” Wilson said in the release. “This expansion will deliver exciting and much-needed amenities to this thriving neighborhood.”
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