Ex-chamber executive in hunt for county post

Bill Lax is one of six finalists vying to be Hillsborough's director of economic development.

By KYLE PARKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 26, 2000

TAMPA -- Bill Lax, who helped land Citigroup and Capital One Financial Corp. expansions when he worked at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, is a finalist to become Hillsborough County's director of economic development.

Lax is the best-known among six candidates who will be considered for the job by County Administrator Dan Kleman. John Dausman, the previous director, left in November to go into private business.

The department has 70 staffers and an $8-million budget, though much of that staffing and funding is related to federal programs for training workers. The new director, who will make between $55,800 and $83,700 a year depending on experience, will manage 10 employees and a $1-million budget.

While those numbers are modest, filling the job with the right person is important to the Tampa Bay area's future.

The Hillsborough department works closely with city of Tampa and Tampa chamber recruiters when corporate prospects come to town. And Hillsborough, which still has large tracts of land to offer companies, has led the area in bringing in large corporate centers. Now, the challenge is to get higher-quality jobs, especially related to technology.

Lax ran the Tampa chamber's Committee of 100 economic development group in 1995-98, a period when Tampa got customer-service facilities for Chase, Capital One, Citigroup and Progressive Insurance. Lax, a former Tampa Electric Co. executive, left to work with the city of Tampa on trade programs, then joined Acme Towers Group, a company that builds telecommunications towers.

At the Tampa chamber, he had mixed reviews. While the Committee of 100 had success during his tenure, there were frictions between the committee and chamber officials, leading to talk that the committee might break off on its own.

"I don't think any office politics would play into our decision," Ed Hunzeker, an assistant county administrator, said Thursday. "Bill has had excellent relationships with the county and city."

Hunzeker was on a committee that screened the six candidates for Kleman, the county administrator. It lists four as the top candidates, though Kleman can pick any of the six.

Here are the other five candidates vying with Lax for the job; the first three join him on the list of favored candidates:

Gene Gray, acting director of the department, has been Hillsborough's liaison for agriculture and tourism for the past three years.

Marilyn Hett, manager of economic development for the city of St. Petersburg for the past two years, previously ran Metro-Dade County's community development division.

Michael Hudkins, a consultant who ran economic development programs in Akron, Ohio, where he says he helped attract more than 25 businesses in four years.

Lewis Attardo, who runs Hardee County's economic development council. John Macel, a Seminole resident who worked at U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base before going into private business.

County officials expect to name the new director next month.

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