Partner & Principal

Ian
Ruzow

Oak Tree Development Group  ·  Lancaster, Pennsylvania

IR

Entrepreneur, developer, and civic leader whose career has shaped Lancaster County's business, real estate, and cultural landscape for more than three decades.

Biography

A Career Built in Lancaster

IIan Ruzow is a Partner at Oak Tree Development Group, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania real estate development firm he co-founded with his partners in 2005. Over a career spanning entrepreneurship, real estate, sports ownership, and civic life, he has become a familiar figure in Lancaster County’s business community.

A Franklin & Marshall College graduate, he has stayed closely tied to both his alma mater and the wider Lancaster community. His work has ranged from founding and selling nationally distributed media businesses to building a substantial commercial real estate portfolio and owning a professional baseball franchise.

Away from business, he has given his time to several of Lancaster’s leading cultural and civic institutions, and his family life remains firmly rooted in the community he helped shape.

“Building things that last — businesses, buildings, institutions — takes deep roots in a community. Lancaster has always been that community for me.”

Education & Athletics

Franklin & Marshall College

He earned his undergraduate degree at Franklin & Marshall College, where he was a standout squash player. In 2025, the college inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame for squash — recognition of both his talent on the court and the mark he left on F&M athletics.

F&M
Undergraduate Degree
Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
2005
Athletics Hall of Fame
Inducted by Franklin & Marshall College for excellence in squash

Career

Professional History

    Early in his career, he co-founded Clipper Magazine, which grew into the largest privately owned direct-mail advertising publication in the country before selling in 2003 — closing out a defining entrepreneurial chapter.

    Two years later, in 2005, he co-founded Oak Tree Development Group with his partners, where he has since overseen a diverse portfolio of office, multifamily, industrial, retail, and hospitality properties across Lancaster County and the surrounding region.

    That same year, he and his partners acquired a 50% stake in the Lancaster Stormers, becoming full owners of the Atlantic League franchise in 2013. They stewarded the team as one of the county’s most beloved sporting institutions for 12 years, before he completed its sale to Prospector Baseball in October 2025.

Civic Leadership

Community & Board Service

IA steady civic presence in Lancaster County, he has lent his time to the region’s nonprofit and cultural institutions. He has served on the boards of the Fulton Theatre — one of Pennsylvania’s oldest performing arts venues — and the Lancaster Downtown Investment District, which works to strengthen the city’s urban core and support local businesses. The involvement reflects a simple belief: business leaders owe something back to the communities that helped them succeed.

Personal

Family & Personal Life

Married to Gail Michaele Ruzow since 2013, he and Gail share a family of five children. They remain deeply rooted in Lancaster, where his professional and civic life continues to overlap with a full personal one.