Brian A. Hudson Sr. has announced his retirement after 45 years of working at the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA). For the past 16 years, he has served as the agency’s executive director and CEO. His last day at the agency will be Feb. 7.
“When I came to PHFA in 1975 I never anticipated staying here for 45 years, but looking back I can’t imagine having worked anywhere else,” Hudson said in a statement. “I appreciate the support I’ve had from various governors and from both sides of the aisle in the General Assembly during my tenure as PHFA’s executive director. I’m proud of how we have been able to adapt at the agency to meet changes in the housing marketplace, and I’m proud of all the people we have been able to help by providing affordable housing solutions.”
Hudson began his career at PHFA in 1975, rising to CFO prior to assuming his current position as executive director and CEO in 2003. While leading the agency, Hudson worked to ensure the stability of the housing agency during the Great Recession and then positioned PHFA for growth in the years that followed.
It is unusual for a state housing agency executive director to serve such a long tenure, which speaks to Hudson’s passion for housing and his ability to find productive answers to housing challenges while working with diverse interest groups, say officials.
Some of the accomplishments under his leadership include changes to the agency’s homeownership programs to meet evolving consumer needs, the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars of tax credit investments in affordable rental housing across the commonwealth, the growth of the state housing trust fund to provide resources for addressing local housing needs, and the expansion of a statewide housing counseling network.
Hudson also is chairman of Commonwealth Cornerstone Group (CCG), a community development entity started by PHFA in 2004. Since its creation under Hudson’s direction, CCG has distributed $368 million in New Markets Tax Credits to promote economic development in rural and low-income areas of Pennsylvania.
His contributions extend beyond the state. A past president and current board member of the National Council of State Housing Agencies, Hudson is also a former chairman of the audit committee of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and a former member of the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board.
