Former Cape Magnet director to take job in Kentucky

Cape Girardeau Area Magnet executive director Mitch Robinson will return to his home state of Kentucky to head a similar economic development organization there.

Robinson, whose annual contract was not renewed in December, has accepted a position as executive director of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Economic Development Council in Hopkinsville, Ky. He will begin his new job April 2.

"It's been a great run here and we've had a lot of success," said Robinson, who lead Magnet for 18 years. "The partnerships and relationships developed here have been very satisfying."

The Hopkinsville area, about an hour-and-a-half from where Robinson grew up, is near Fort Campbell.

"You've got a huge economic driver there with the base," Robinson said.

The area also has a strong automotive manufacturing sector and several Japanese companies, including a sister plant to TG Missouri.

The county, with a population of about 73,000 people, has many similarities to the economic makeup in this area, Robinson said.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger, who serves as chairman of the Magnet board of directors, said he will assemble a search committee charged with finding Robinson's replacement. This committee of about half a dozen members will be comprised of both current and former Magnet board members, he said.

The mayor himself will not be a member of this committee. He expects to finalize the search committee appointments within the next 10 days.

"Then we will go back to all of the funding agencies to get their commitment to move forward with the organization," he said.

Current financial supporters of Magnet are the city of Cape Girardeau, the city of Jackson, Cape Girardeau County, Cape Area Chamber of Commerce and the city of Scott City.

There is no specific reason to question any of these organizations' intent to continue to support Magnet, Rediger said.

"We are getting our ducks in a row to be sure we have continued support before we are going to start moving ahead with a search," he said.

Where the position will be advertised and the time frame for selecting a new director will be at the discretion of the search committee, Rediger said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

Hopkinsville, Ky.

1267 N. Mount Auburn Road, Cape Girardeau, MO