Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. plans to find new CEO in 2012

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. will begin deliberating on plans to find a new chief executive officer next year, its chairman said today.

LVEDC Chairman Don Bernhard said at the group’s quarterly board of directors meeting that no schedule is set for CEO Phil Mitman’s departure, or for the hiring of a replacement.

“Phil Mitman will continue as president and CEO until such time he and we mutually decide to appoint a new president and CEO through a professional succession plan,” Bernhard said in a statement.

Bernhard declined to elaborate on why the succession plan will move forward in 2012 except to say that the recent consensus of officials is that such timing is appropriate.

“Top businesses have succession management plans,” Bernhard said at the meeting at the Best Western Lehigh Valley Hotel & Conference Center.

Bernhard said details on the replacement process, and whether it will include a national search, have not been defined.

Bernhard reiterated that neither the board nor its executive committee that oversees personnel matters formally sought Mitman’s retirement. He declined to say if informal discussions influenced the matter.

Several sources, declining to speak publicly, have said LVEDC has been lobbied to find new leadership.

Mitman, a former mayor of Easton, said he hasn’t been asked to step down but added that he expects LVEDC will benefit from “new energy” in the future.

"Another kind of leadership might be good for the Lehigh Valley," Mitman said after the meeting. "I have given the region every kind of service I can give over the past 30 years."

Mitman said he will remain active in the region after eventual retirement from the Bethlehem-based nonprofit organization, which receives private and public money to advance local business growth.

Mitman, 67, was named chief executive of LVEDC in 2008, replacing Beth Gorin, a former Bergen County economic development official who quit after eight months on the job.

LVEDC helps arrange loans and grants to area employers as well as assist out-of-town companies with relocations here.

At today’s meeting, Mitman said LVEDC is helping 37 business projects obtain about $35 million in loans. He said such efforts will retain or add 4,000 jobs in the Lehigh Valley.

Northampton County Executive John Stoffa asked whether the agency tracks jobs lost. Mitman said it does not but will begin doing so.

"I think that’s something we should have," Stoffa said. "What is the overall gain? Because that’s the other half of the issue."

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2011/10/lehigh_valley_economic_develop_2.html