Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation board members approved hiring Bill King, the longtime editor of an international site relocation magazine, as the group's new president at their meeting Tuesday morning.
Following a report from search committee chairwoman Peggy Muckelroy, who called King "a perfect fit for Nacogdoches," the board voted to hire him with no dissenting votes.
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NEDCO Chairman Stan Sisco called King a better choice than earlier candidates for the position.
"Even though he's a little bit of a non-traditional candidate, because he is not directly EDC certified, what he brings to the table, what we really need at this point in time, is just a huge list of contacts and the ability to contact people. He has the ear of people who are in this industry all over the country," Sisco said.
King said last week that as editor of Expansion Management magazine he had worked with thousands of executives searching to locate business operations, experience NEDCO board members repeatedly said Tuesday was invaluable.
Contacted by telephone last week, King, 58, said he was looking forward to moving with his family to Nacogdoches from Leawood, Kan., which is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
"What I would bring to this job, in addition to contacts I've made over the years, is a pretty thorough understanding of why companies choose one location over another," he said.
Filling the position has been a struggle for NEDCO, which saw negotiations with an earlier set of candidates fall through.
Judy McDonald, the current president who announced her retirement last year, said she was pleased the deal has been completed.
"I'm extremely pleased," she said. "They went out and found somebody with a whole different set of skills, which is taking NEDCO to a much bigger arena."
At Tuesday morning's meeting, held in a windowed corridor of the Fredonia Hotel because electricity had gone out, board members said King would help NEDCO become more proactive in soliciting retailers and industry to the area.
"We've done a great job reacting to people as we get the leads, but we have not been as proactive, with a plan in place, as I think we can be," Sisco said. "I think this is a step in that direction. I think he can take us to that level."
City Manager Jim Jeffers, who was part of the search committee, said King would provide strong leadership.
"King has very strong strategic planning experience," Jeffers said. "He understands the process, and I would suspect that we'll see a meaningful strategic plan with some specific targets in a very short time frame."
