FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2007
Contact Information:
Jim Edwards
Thomaston-Upson County Industrial Development Authority
770-468-1200
Tim Chason
The Chason Group, Inc.
404-735-0540

Applicants From Ten States Submit Resumes For Thomaston-Upson County IDA Position

A total of 23 professionals from ten states have submitted resumes for the new executive director’s position with the Thomaston-Upson County Industrial Development Authority. Friday, March 30 was the deadline for resumes.

In early March the authority chose to cast a broader net for candidates and the strategy is working, according to Jim Edwards, 2007 chair of the authority. The Chason Group, Inc, an executive search and strategic planning firm, is assisting the local authority in the recruitment efforts.

Candidates for the position reside in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Both traditional and non-traditional candidates have expressed an interest in the position. Traditional candidates are considered those with direct economic development recruitment and retention experience.

“The candidates are from a broad spectrum of experiences,” Edwards said. “There are some who are currently working in economic development agencies while others are in the private sector as professionals in sales, marketing or management positions. The list of candidates also includes a few regional professionals as well.”

The next step in the selection process for the candidates will be a detailed application. Questions relating to their experience in economic development, character traits, philosophies on how to best market the Thomaston-Upson County area, and long-term career goals are a part of the application.

The Chason Group has spent the past three weeks conducting stakeholder interviews with authority members, business leaders and statewide economic development professionals to determine the character traits most desired of the new executive. Some of those characteristics include a self-starter, professional, salesperson and marketer, good communicator and a good personality to relate to various government entities.

“Our goal from the beginning has been to involve the community as much as possible in the search process,” says Edwards. “By conducting the stakeholder interviews, the search consultant has been given some critical insight into how the community wants this position to operate and certain benchmarks that can be considered as successes if achieved in the future.”

A weighting scale for the candidates will be a significant part of the selection process in determining how they match the needs of the community and position. Other requirements of the candidates to quality for the position include: minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or equivalent in the area(s) of marketing, business administration, economics or other closely related field(s) of study; minimum of two years experience in economic development, community development, marketing, planning or a related field; individual must have the ability to travel in order to fulfill the duties of the position; and the selected candidate must be a resident of Upson County within three months of the first day in the position.

Candidates will have until mid-April to complete the application for The Chason Group. After that time, the weighting scale will be used to narrow the list of candidates to a smaller pool for interviews. The authority has tentatively established early May as the time for interviews.

Other members of the authority’s board of directors include Thomaston Mayor Hays Arnold, Danny Brinks, John Brodnax, Upson County Commission Chairman Glenn Collins, and Maurice Raines.