Town Hires Former ‘New Canaan Advertiser’ Editor as Full-Time Grant Writer

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of hiring a former local news editor to fill the new full-time town position of grant writer. Greg Reilly had worked from 2013 to 2018 as a reporter and editor with two newspapers owned by Hearst Connecticut Media/HAN Network, including the New Canaan Advertiser. “There are a lot of grants out there that we have not applied for that we are eligible for,” the town’s human resources director, Cheryl Pickering Jones, told the selectmen during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And so we are hoping with Greg’s assistance that we will be able to open up some of those doors and apply for some of those grants.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 in favor of the hiring. Reilly said he’s been working full-time for the town of Stratford as a grant writer with “good success.”

“I think the short story is that we have learned here that the skills of a journalist apply very nicely to those needed for grant-writing,” Reilly, a Stratford resident, said via Zoom.