Members of the Chamber & Development Council (CDC) of Crawford County executive director search committee visited the Crawford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Outgoing CDC Executive Director Evan Blakley announced in early October 2022 that he intends to resign his position no later than March 31.
CDC Board President Jay Mendlik told the supervisors that the initial round of the search did not result in a suitable candidate.
The following is an edited and condensed account of the 35 minute discussion.
He said 20 applications had been received from candidates from all over the United States, and the CDC committee interviewed five individuals.
Three candidates were from within about a 45 mile radius of Denison.
Two candidates are current CDC employees: Office Manager Mariah Nutt and Crawford County Tourism Coordinator Shani Bonner.
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Mendlik said Nutt and Bonner were the most qualified of the five candidates
“We found that they are both very strong in each of their positions,” Mendlik said. “Neither of those two have any economic development experience.”
He said the hiring committee’s focus has been on finding someone with experience in economic development to attract more industrial and retail businesses to the area.
He said the advertised salary range for the position was in the $50,000 to $70,000 range, which the committee now feels is too low to attract an experienced candidate.
Mendlik said the committee consulted James Hoelscher, senior program manager at the Institute for Decision Making at the University of Northern Iowa, who said that average economic development salaries run from about $75,000 to $87,000.
“There’s no money tree to be had – we all know that,” Mendlik said.
He said the committee wants to be responsible to taxpayers but also wants the CDC to have an experienced executive director.
Committee member Erin Muck, Crawford County Memorial Hospital president and CEO and CDC board member, said when Blakley leaves, the economic development portion of the CDC’s activities will have a big hole in it.
She noted that everyone is struggling at present with lower revenues and higher expenses.
The committee is looking for options of how to come up with a higher salary for the executive director positions so a candidate with talent will apply.
“We did not get that this last time – it was very disappointing,” Muck said.
The current CDC budget will not allow for an increase in the executive director’s salary, she said.
Muck said the CDC needs the county’s help but noted they are also approaching other entities for help.
Mendlik said the committee is going back to the drawing board and they have spoken to two recruiters; a recruiter would cost about 20% of the salary of the position to be hired.
The committee would like to make a decision on increasing the salary for the position before starting the process again, he said.
“The type of people we’re going to get at $70,000 is way different than if we post it for $90 (thousand),” Muck said.
Supervisors Chairman Ty Rosburg, the county representative on the CDC board, said the CDC needs someone like Blakley who has experience and knowledge about working with businesses.
He said the salary will probably have to go up.
Mendlik said the CDC’s tourism budget is $49,500, which includes Bonner’s salary. $42,000 comes from the City of Denison via the hotel/motel tax and $7,500 comes from the county.
The county and city each provide $50,000 toward the economic development side.
Mendlik said that $100,000 makes up 40% of the total budget; the other 60% comes from sponsorships, donations and memberships.
The CDC has about 200 members at present, Blakley said.
The conversation turned to a discussion of the value of the Tri City BBQ Fest.
Mendlik said the festival brings in a million dollars every year.
Blakley explained that the impact of the Tri City BBQ Fest, based on an Iowa Economic Development model, is that more than $1 million is spent and about $400,000 of that stays in the community.
Mendlik said the uptown events organized by CDC board member Taylor Borkowski of The Cottage followed the Tri City BBQ Fest model.
Search committee member Clay Adams, WESCO Industries executive director and CDC board member, said the uptown events drew 800 to 900 people each time.
He said he is fiscally conservative and doesn’t like spending money – but the CDC executive director salary needs to be increased to the $90,000 threshold to maintain momentum in the county and give a return on the investment.
“We respect your budget,” Adams said. “We just need more money – bottom line — to make this work.”
Supervisor Kyle Schultz asked what the Tri City BBQ Fest does for the rest of the county.
Adams said it draws people from all over the state; Mendlik said the festival is one of the most successful events in the state.
Blakley pointed out that although the Tri City BBQ Fest is what is most associated with the CDC, the festival is a tourism event and as executive director he mostly works on economic development and with chamber members.
“We’ve assisted dozens upon dozens of small businesses, with coaching, helping them get access to capital,” Blakley said. “We manage a loan fund that has helped dozens of businesses get started. We also sponsor businesses to go to the Region XII (Council of Governments) fund.”
He said he has worked with housing developers, helped Monogram Foods get hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentives for expansion of their plant, and secured $1 million in incentives for the Continental Carbonic dry ice plant.
He noted that those businesses bring workers to the area and they spend their paychecks here.
Supervisor Craig Dozark asked about the timeline for starting the second search and whether the committee needs a commitment from the supervisors first.
Mendlik said the committee would like to hire someone before Blakley leaves at the end of March; he said they would like to have an answer from the supervisors by the third week of January.
A good headhunter, with the right salary range, will find the right person, Blakley said.
