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TAMPA - A veteran business recruiter from the Midwest has taken over as economic development chief at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
Myron Hughes, 41, will oversee a staff of eight responsible for attracting new companies to Hillsborough County, with a focus on those in bioscience, manufacturing and distribution, and international trade.
He fills a void created last spring when chamber executives demoted Robin Ronne from senior vice president of the staff of the Committee of One Hundred, the chamber's economic development arm.
Top chamber leaders thought Ronne spent so much time recruiting financial services firms that he ignored other business sectors. He remains as a senior vice president but has responsibility only over financial services prospects.
Bob Abberger, who chairs the chamber's international committee, made reference to the shakeup in introducing Hughes at a trade program Monday morning.
"We didn't want to be a one-legged table based on financial services," said Abberger, head of Florida development for Trammell Crow. "Now, we've got somebody who can carry the whole table."
A former power forward for the University of Cincinnati basketball team, Hughes went to work for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce as manager of national marketing. He later worked as director of new business recruitment for the St. Louis Chamber & Growth Association, the area's chamber of commerce and economic development organization.
Hughes also held jobs supervising downtown redevelopment for the city of Cincinnati and for a downtown Memphis business group. He was working at his own real estate firm, Commercial Resource Group, when contacted about the Tampa chamber job.
"I believe in the overall economic concept of bringing new jobs here and making sure the local economy is as healthy as possible," Hughes said.
Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813 226-3384.