NEWPORT, RI — The Newport City Council has offered the open city manager job to Colin Kennedy, an active duty commander in the U.S. Navy, currently serving in Newport.

City officials said the council will hold a special meeting immediately following its regular monthly session at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, to disclose votes taken in executive session on the remaining candidates for city manager and the consideration and approval of the employment agreement for the appointment of Kennedy. The meeting, which is open to the public, will take place in the second floor city council chamber.

The vote is expected to conclude a months-long search process that attracted more than two dozen candidates from across the country interested in serving as Newport’s top executive. Over the course of the recruitment process, which concluded in January, the city received 27 applicants from 13 states.

A screening committee made up of local and state officials, including Middletown Town Administrator Sean Brown, former Warren Town Manager Kate Michaud, and Ernie Almonte, the former Rhode Island auditor general and current executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, were tasked with reviewing the applications before passing along 10 applicants to the Newport City Council for final review. Of that applicant pool, the council selected five top candidates for remote interviews held via Zoom in early April.

After the final interview on April 8, the council invited their two top candidates to a second round of in-person interviews held on April 20. On April 24, the council voted in an executive session to extend a formal offer to Kennedy.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a concentration in oceanography, Kennedy has over two decades of executive-level management expertise as an officer in the U.S. Navy, city officials said. Kennedy holds two master’s degrees, one in public administration from the University of Oklahoma and another in national security and strategic strategies from the Naval War College in Newport.

City officials said Kenney’s career accomplishments include a track record of spearheading large strategic initiatives, leading large, diverse teams, managing complex budgets, and fostering collaborative partnerships. He currently serves as the chief executive officer of the Navy Reserve Center Newport and, before that, was director of travel for the Navy Reserve Forces Command, where he had oversight of logistics for the activation and movement of 50,000 reservists.

In addition to his administrative service, Kennedy served on four warships and deployed five times in support of combat operations, United Nations Security Council resolutions, and theater security cooperation with allied navies.

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A May 6 groundbreaking event in Rhode Island marked the start of building a new $146.7 million marine operations center for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The future homeport of the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic is planned for Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island, where the U.S. Navy awarded $146,778,932 to Skanska USA to build the new NOAA facility.

The plan includes a pier to accommodate four large vessels, a floating dock for smaller vessels, space for vessel repairs and parking, and a building to be used for shoreside support and as a warehouse. Construction is anticipated to be completed in 2027.

“The new, state-of-the-art Marine Operations Center-Atlantic facility is critical to NOAA’s mission and delivering on our commitments to regional, international and other diverse partners,” said NOAA Corps Rear Admiral Nancy Hann, director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. “Newport has always been a welcoming community to NOAA, and we are appreciative of the support from local, state and congressional leaders, as well as our mission partners at Naval Station Newport.”

Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation pushed for co-locating the NOAA base at Newport.

“NOAA is the top scientific weather and oceans agency and I was pleased to help Rhode Island land MOC-A. Naval Station Newport’s location and the years of strategic federal investments we’ve made here are really paying off. Bringing NOAA’s premiere research fleet and Atlantic operations center to the Ocean State means hundreds of jobs for Rhode Island and a brighter future for our Blue Economy,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI.

NOAA’s fleet of 15 research and survey ships are operated, managed and maintained by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. Ranging from large oceanographic research vessels capable of exploring the world’s deepest ocean, to smaller ships responsible for charting the shallow bays and inlets of the U.S., the fleet supports a wide range of marine activities, including fisheries surveys, nautical charting and ocean and climate studies. NOAA ships are operated by NOAA Corps officers and civilian professional mariners.