SE MO REDI narrows search for CEO

Local economic organization SE MO REDI is getting ready to hire a full-time leader.

Waverly Partners, an executive search firm based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, hired to perform an executive search, provided a list of some half-dozen candidates SE MO REDI search committee members whittled down. The committee will conduct virtual interviews with them, and then move onto in-person interviews for the finalists to become the organization's chief executive officer.

The new CEO would be brought on sometime in May or June.

The organization, which non-abbreviated name is Southeast Missouri Regional Economic Development Inc., is engaged in the process of appointing a chief executive officer to oversee its operations.

It began in the 1990s as Cape Girardeau Area MAGNET. In 2022, the organization was reorganized into SE MO REDI with a greater focus on regional cooperation.

Management consultant Shad Burner was brought into the fold in July 2023. When he joined, the organization had five public sector and six private sector investors combining for an annual budget of $250,000.

Since then, the organization has grown significantly. It has more than 20 private sector investors and an annual operating budget of more than $500,000.

"Over the last few years, there's been an evolution occurring where private sector folks have gotten involved, made some investments and started becoming part of the conversation," Burner said.

One of the first things he helped consult SE MO REDI with was hiring a full-time CEO.

In October 2023, Aaron Panton, regional president of the Bank of Missouri, became head of the nine-member committee to lead the CEO search.

"One thing you'll see is it's not just investors on this committee," Burner said. "We really want to get to the point where we're making decisions based off of who are best people to do this thing for the region."

Panton said the CEO would ideally have strong leadership and communication skills with prior economic development experience.

"My hope would be that the next leader comes in and really takes the time to understand our region, understand the strategic plan that the board has established and start building relationships with the stakeholders from across the region," Panton added.

Burner said he's excited for the CEO to start because it would mean the organization has someone in place to devote more of his or her time into running it than he can.

"I spend a significant amount of my time on this (SE MO REDI), but not all. At some point, this organization deserves a CEO who is dedicating all of their time on it," Burner said.

Working together for regional development

If businesses and municipalities work in alignment at SE MO REDI, Burner said, they will be able to pool resources, attract more outside investors and draw more attention from politicians in Jefferson City.

"All these private sector folks who have come on understand that what we're going for is a base that we can continue and bring a new CEO in," Burner said. "... At some point, I think there's potential to expand public sector investment, but we really want this to be a private-sector driven organization."

Most of the businesses acting as investors at the $10,000 and $25,000 annual involvement level consider themselves regional entities, Burner said. They all share some of the same concerns about the region's flat GDP growth and declining population.

"These things are really concerning when you look at the future of Southeast Missouri, so the companies and investors that decided to join into this, I think what motivated them was understanding that we have to do some things a little bit differently," Burner said.