CBA has scrapped its search for a replacement for longtime President and CEO Bill Anderson, instead appointing Curtis Riskey as executive director of the retailers' trade association.

The owner of a Christian bookstore in Oshkosh, Wis., Riskey, 43, has been on the staff of CBA since 2007 and served as its interim executive director since Anderson's departure last October.

Announcing the appointment, CBA said that the organization would be "using an executive director management model going forward."

George Thomsen, CBA chairman-elect, said that Riskey's leadership in the past few months had "exemplified his knowledge of the many facets of Christian retail, his acumen for connecting with a variety of industry leaders to work together on common goals and his dedication to the success of this industry even amid current global economic challenges." It was important that Riskey "not only has a heart for retailers, but is a retailer himself," Thomsen added.

After 10 years in the appliance industry, Riskey opened BASIC (Brothers and Sisters in Christ) Books and Café in Oshkosh in 2000. Prior to joining CBA staff as strategic solutions executive--while retaining ownership of his store--Riskey served on the organization's Independent Retail Advisory Council, taught in its Professional Christian Retailer Certification program and wrote for CBA's magazine. He was also a member of Christian Retailing's editorial advisory board.

"I am truly humbled by the appointment," Riskey said in the CBA statement, "but also excited by it. I have a vision for the role CBA is going to play. My heart is with Christian retailers, who are truly missionaries in the communities they serve, and I want to see them succeed."

Riskey holds a business degree from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. He and his wife, Barbara, have three children.

Anderson's Oct. 30, 2009, resignation--after more than 30 years with CBA, 24 of them as president--took many in the industry by surprise. No reason was given for his departure.

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