Glen Mills native Jim Cassady has given up his job in digital marketing at Bristol Myers Squibb so he can saturate Delaware County with pickleball centers, writes John George for Philadelphia Business Journal.
Cassady, 55, and his wife, Mia, have signed a deal to be Dill Dinkers regional developers for Delaware County and northern Delaware.
Ten pickleball centers are planned.
Cassady wanted something different after three decades in the pharmaceutical industry.
“I was feeling burned out with the corporate world,” he said.
Dill Dinkers, based in Maryland, already had regional pickleball developers for Chester and Montgomery counties so they offered the Cassays a chance to expand pickleball in Delaware County.
Jim Cassady and Mia, a certified occupational therapist assistant, were introduced to pickleball seven years ago. They loved the game but had a hard time finding places for beginners to play indoors when it got cold.
When the Dill Dinkers offer came along, they grabbed it.
“I grew up in Delaware County so I knew the area,” said Cassady.
The 10 centers will open over the next six years, with the Cassadys owning and operating two of them.
Find out more about Dill Dinkers and the Cassady pickleball plans in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on DELCO Today in October 2024.
