The Akron Community Foundation has chosen a new president, John T. Petures Jr., head of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

Petures, with nearly a 30-year career in nonprofits, will replace Jody Bacon, who plans to retire in July from the philanthropic endowment.

The community foundation uses income from its investments for grants to charities, awarding about $6.5 million in fiscal 2007.

During Bacon's 18-year tenure as president, foundation assets have grown from less than $20 million to more than $140 million.

At the Arthritis Foundation, Northeastern Ohio Chapter, Petures oversees 200 program sites in 22 counties, including Summit.

He works with a 45-member board of trustees, a 17-person staff and a $2 million annual budget.

A resident of Shaker Heights, he plans to move to the Akron area this year.

''I've mentored, coached, trained thousands of volunteers and staff people,'' he said Tuesday. ''I'm ready to take this next step in building (the community foundation's) future.''

Petures described his management style as ''engaging.''

''One of my staff recently told me that it was infectious — in a positive way,'' he said.

Petures and his wife, Cindy, have three children. The youngest is a senior at Shaker Heights High School.

Petures said he enjoys spending time with his family, being involved with his church — St. Dominic Catholic Church in Shaker Heights — and golfing.

''I sell Christmas trees, I flip pancakes,'' at the church, he said.

Greg McDermott, the Akron Community Foundation's board chairman, said in a news release, ''We are confident (Petures) will continue to build the foundation's assets and service to the Greater Akron community.''

Petures began his career with the United Way in Beaver, Pa., later taking a job with the United Way of Greater New Haven in Connecticut.

In 1988, he joined the United Way of Greater Cleveland, where he was fundraising director.

Petures, a native of Aliquippa, Pa., has a bachelor's degree in speech communication from Geneva College in Pennsylvania.

McDermott declined to reveal Petures' salary.

Bacon's compensation, including an employee benefit plan, totaled $210,486 in 2006, according to the organization's IRS Form 990 nonprofit tax return filed in 2007, the most recent available.

The Akron Community Foundation retained Waverly Partners LLC of Cleveland as its executive search firm.

Former foundation board chairman and Roetzel and Andress attorney George Sarkis headed the seven-member search committee.

The foundation began in 1955 with a $1 million gift from the estate of B.F. Goodrich executive Edwin C. Shaw.

It now has $142.8 million in assets and more than 300 affiliate funds. The foundation and its funds, including donor-advised funds, have awarded more than $70 million since the organization's founding.