By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
Mark Censits, CoolVines wine store president and CEO, has taken over the presidency of the Princeton Merchants Association from Travis Linderman, who stepped down last week after taking a full-time position as campaign manager for Republican congressional and Princeton businessman Scott Sipprelle.
Mr. Linderman made a decision to step down at the Feb. 2 PMA board meeting, Mr. Censits said Monday. Mr. Censits said he was subsequently elected PMA president at the meeting.
”We’ve got some momentum going on and I feel it’s important to keep it going,” Mr. Censits said of his decision to take on the role of president.
Membership has soared at the PMA, and the organization has undergone a renaissance since changing its name from the Borough Merchants for Princeton and encouraging merchants from both Princeton Township and Borough to join, he said. Many of the changes came about under Mr. Linderman’s tenure as president.
In late January Mr. Linderman left his job as an account representative with the MacLean Agency in downtown Princeton to manage Mr. Sipprelle’s campaign for the 12th congressional seat held by Democrat Rush Holt. At the time he said he hoped to continue as PMA president.
Mr. Censits said the PMA board discussed Mr. Linderman’s new circumstances and how they would affect his position as president. He said there was no exclusion in the PMA bylaws for a nonmerchant PMA president.
The discussion turned to whether serving in Mr. Sipprelle’s campaign would leave enough time for Mr. Linderman to continue to perform the duties of PMA president, as well as whether his new role posed a conflict of interest, or even a perceived conflict of interest, Mr. Censits said.
After a lengthy discussion, Mr. Linderman said, it would be best for if he stepped down, stating that he did not want the merchants organization to waste time and energy publicly justifying his ability to continue as president, Mr. Censits said.
”I think it was a wise perspective, some of us were feeling similarly,” he said.
Mr. Linderman could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Censits said he has committed to serving out Mr. Linderman’s term as PMA president, which ends this summer. After that, if he was asked to continue by the board, he would consider serving as president for another full year’s term, he said.
Mr. Censits, a borough resident for over 15 years, founded CoolVines in 2007, opening a retail wine store in Westfield. In 2008, he opened a CoolVines store in Princeton Borough, in a space on the corner of Nassau and Harrison streets.
Before starting CoolVines, Mr. Censits worked at a boutique business consulting firm which engaged in restructurings and turnarounds of private companies for hedge funds and other institutional partners.
Mr. Censits said he hoped to continue the positive progress of the PMA under Mr. Linderman’s leadership.
”We will attempt to recruit another director or two just to keep up the board’s numbers, otherwise we are planning on just marching forward,” he said.
The Princeton Merchants Association will hold its next general meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 8 a.m. at the Nassau Inn on Palmer Square in downtown Princeton. For information contact Nancy Mazotas at [email protected] or call (609) 924-6677.
