NEWS - Economic Development

By Ted Carter

The interim chief of the Savannah Economic Development Authority and an Ohio economic development professional have emerged as the top choices to lead the authority.

The SEDA board announced Lynn Pitts and Steven Weathers as finalists at its Sept. 14 meeting. Final selection must wait at least 14 days beyond the Sept. 14 announcement of the two finalists, according to the board.

The search to replace the retired Rick Winger has been headed by a selection committee and conducted by Heidrick & Struggles, a longtime executive search firm. The committee established elaborate criteria over a nine-month for the selection. The panel’s work was not as much that of a search committee or succession committee as much as it was a focus on the SEDA of the future, according to David Paddison, committee chairman.

“We came up with very detailed data on what we wanted SEDA to look like in the future,” he said at the Sept. 14 board meeting., The idea, Paddison added, was to find potential leaders who look matches for the SEDA prototype.

Another key requirement: the candidate should be an executive interested in the challenge of building the prototype and making it function at a high level. “We tried to find people who weren’t looking for jobs,” said Paddison, president & CEO of insurance brokerage Seacrest Partners.

Winger retired on July 1. Pitts has been overseeing the agency in the interim.

Pitts is a Georgia Tech civil engineering grad with a master of science in real estate and urban affairs. He spent 20 years of his professional life, 1981 to 2001, in various capacities for Georgia Power Co.

He joined SEDA in late 2003 as senior vice president for sales and marketing. He came to the Savannah agency from the Charleston (S.C.) Regional Development Alliance, where he headed business recruitment.

He joined Mirant Corp. in 2001. He headed Mirant’s Americas Group economic development efforts.

His last position with Georgia Power was as general manager for business development.

From 1994 through 1997, he worked for Georgia Power as manager of Operation Legacy, where he created and implemented a targeted marketing program in conjunction with the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Weathers, the other finalist, has a bachelor of arts in economics from California State University and is president & CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership of Holland, Ohio. He joined that agency in 2005 after four years as president & CEO of the Tucson Economic Council.

Previous to that, he had an 11-year tenure as vice president of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. Weathers joined that organization after working four years as an asset manager for Wells Fargo and four years as a securities broker for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

In citing major accomplishments at his current post, Weather said he has had a hand in creating 7,000 new jobs in the Holland region and $2.2 million in new construction and investment.

He also cited the accomplishments of Rocket Ventures, a for-profit venture fund created within Holland’s Regional Growth Partnership. The venture entity has helped to start 70 new technology-based companies, fund 33 grants and make 11 equity investments in new tech companies.

Pitts cited his role in helping to bring Target’s 2 million square-foot distribution center to Savannah, a 1,500-employee expansion of Gulfstream Aerospace and a new $325 million Power Systems manufacturing plant.

During his time at SEDA, the authority has been involved in creating 5,000 jobs and about $1.4 billion in new capital investment for Chatham County, he noted in his resume.