WESTFIELD — Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield Assistant Executive Director Bo Sullivan said he is honored to have been chosen as the next CEO of the local club when Bill Parks retires on June 6.

Sullivan praised Parks’ leadership over his 18 years as the club’s CEO, and said he wants to continue the club on the track it has been on under him.

“I really want to keep things going the way they have been,” said Sullivan. “The club has gone a long way with Bill’s leadership.”

Sullivan joined the club’s board in 2003, and was selected as the board’s president in 2005. After 13 years on the board, he was hired as the assistant executive director in 2019. When Parks announced to the executive board earlier this year that he would retire, the board voted Sullivan to succeed him.

Parks announced his retirement publicly during the Youth of the Year Awards ceremony on April 27.

Sullivan said he has some projects in mind to update the Boys and Girls Club building cosmetically. He noted he has no additional plans to expand the building any further than it has recently.

“Two additions in the last 12 years is enough,” said Sullivan.

The most recent project, a 15,000-square foot, $3.5 million addition that opened in August, was dedicated in October as the William R. Parks Early Education Center.

Parks has been working with the Boys and Girls Club for 42 years, 18 of which were spent in his position in Westfield. At 66, he said it was time for him to retire and pass the reins off to the next generations.

“I felt it was time to move forward and step aside to let the next staff to come in,” said Parks. “We have been fortunate to be able to hire Bo a couple of years ago to work with me directly and be set up and ready for a streamlined transition.”

Parks said he wasn’t yet sure what retirement will bring him, but that he will stay in Westfield and remain involved with the community.

“He has done a wonderful job as a club and city as a whole, the leadership he has shown in the last 18 years is unrivaled, and he is the best mentor possible for the role I am about to take,” said Sullivan.