The Lehigh County executive must appoint an interim successor immediately upon his departure and said he is leaning toward tapping Tom Muller, county director of administration.
View full sizeLehigh County Executive Don Cunningham is introduced this morning as the new CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., during a news conference at the business-development agency's Bethlehem office. Cunningham is a former mayor of Bethlehem who resigned in 2005 as Pennsylvania’s secretary of general services, a Cabinet position under former Gov. Ed Rendell, to run for county executive.
Cunningham plans to step down as executive July 8 and is scheduled to start with LVEDC on July 9.
A Whitehall Township resident who once considered running for governor, Cunningham said his public office experience will help him engage the private sector.
“I decided a while ago I didn’t want to be in Harrisburg, but I wanted to be in the Lehigh Valley,” said Cunningham, who accepted the job after receiving more than the required two-thirds approval from the LVEDC Board of Directors. “There is nothing more exciting and more gratifying than making our region stronger.Cunningham fills a void left by the departure of Phil Mitman, who left April 30 to become executive director of Easton Area Industrial Land Development Co. Inc.
“This is all about jobs and opportunity and growing the tax base and doing it in a sustainable way,” Cunningham said at a news conference at LVEDC headquarters in Bethlehem. “Sometimes it’s more about keeping things simple than making it complex.”
Salary bonus available
Cunningham’s salary will be $120,000 annually with a $10,000 bonus opportunity if he meets performance-based benchmarks. His salary as county executive is $75,000. Mitman’s base salary at LVEDC was $125,000.
LVEDC Chairman Don Bernhard said earning the bonus is based on increasing membership and private-sector contributions to the organization, among other criteria.
More than half of the LVEDC’s $2.47 million 2012 budget comes from public funds, including hotel taxes from Northampton and Lehigh counties. The rest is private money.
Upon his departure at Lehigh County government, Cunningham must appoint an interim executive to take over immediately. He said he is leaning toward tapping Tom Muller, the county's director of administration.
Ten days after that, county commissioners have 45 days to appoint a successor from the same political party affiliation. Cunningham, re-elected in 2009 to a second four-year, term, is a Democrat.
At LVEDC, Bernhard and staff have assumed additional duties in the absence of a permanent CEO. LVEDC advertised in February for a new chief executive with emphasis on economic development credentials. A search committee narrowed applicants from a nationwide pool.
Area knowledge cited
Bernhard said while Cunningham is not certified by the International Economic Development Council, a preference but not a requirement for the new CEO, Cunningham leaped ahead of the pack in other ways.
“Don rose to the top immediately in terms of decision-making skills, leadership and influence, relationship skills, teaming and governance,” Bernhard said. “And we also said at the outset that extensive knowledge of the Lehigh Valley would be a bonus. Don certainly has that.”Cunningham, 46, was the expected choice after the LVEDC search committee recommended him earlier this month. He was later endorsed by the organization’s executive committee, a leadership group of about 20 LVEDC directors.
LVEDC is charged with promoting job growth by luring companies to the region as well as retaining existing employers. It helps employers obtain loans, grants and other aid with a staff of 18 employees.
Cunningham said he will focus on the entire Lehigh Valley, including redeveloping its brownfields and urban cores.
“We are stronger as a region than our component parts,” Cunningham said. “We are going to make this organization, bigger, better, stronger and more effective than it has ever been.”Alan Jennings, executive director of the Bethlehem-based Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, said he believes Cunningham will be an inclusive leader.
“Don is a natural for the part,” Jennings, who leads an organization that extends credit and resources to low-income communities, said after today's news conference. “He puts all the skills together and the process confirmed he was the best candidate. Don is an open book. He is a well traveled executive with public relations experience and that’s what this organization really needs.”
RESIGNATION ADDRESS
Slated to begin July 9 as CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham issued the following statement today on his resignation as executive. He was elected in 2005.
"You may have read about it by now and for that I apologize. I will be resigning my position as Lehigh County Executive on July 8 to become the next president and chief executive officer of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., a regional, public-private partnership charged with marketing and helping to create jobs and grow the economy in the Lehigh Valley.
"For the last 17 years, I’ve served in public office as a city councilman, a mayor, a state cabinet secretary and now the elected executive of Lehigh County. I’m a lucky guy. The voters and Gov. Ed Rendell gave me a chance to serve the people of my hometown of Bethlehem, Lehigh County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I never felt like I was going to work because I was doing what I loved.
"Nothing has given me more satisfaction in those positions than my work in economic development, whether it was helping with the economic renaissance of Bethlehem following the loss of Bethlehem Steel, helping to locate Ocean Spray and Boston Beer in our county during an economic recession, or helping to bring 300 PennDOT workers to Hamilton St. to help revitalize Downtown Allentown when I was a cabinet secretary.
"As we get older, we tend to figure out what motivates us and satisfies us and what we are good at doing. I love the Lehigh Valley. I love living here and helping to make our region better. I want us to always be the best region, with the most job opportunity and the best quality of life not only in Pennsylvania but the East Coast.
"One of the challenges with the public sector work I always seem to pick is that the clock is ticking from the day you start. And, while I’m not at the final buzzer in my current position, I have entered the fourth quarter. My term as Lehigh County Executive ends next year. With two kids in college and another one heading there in two years, I don’t have the luxury to wait until the final day. Therefore, I will resign my position effective this July 8. I will start at LVEDC the next day.
"I have loved my position with the county. The executive team we assembled is second to none. We are colleagues and friends. And, the work force and quality of operations in Lehigh County are as good as any I’ve seen. I will always remember my days here and I will miss working directly with the employees of the county.
"My work, however, will remain here in the Lehigh Valley, where I was born and want to remain. I look forward to working with both of our counties, all 62 of our municipalities, our other regional organizations and our businesses to market our region and to grow the Lehigh Valley. My mission will be simple. Through partnerships at every level and in every sector, public and private, market our region, create jobs and opportunity and expand the economic base of the Lehigh Valley. I have dozens of ideas on how to do that even better. It’s with a mix of nostalgia and excitement that I close one chapter and open the next. The good news is that the story remains the same and together we have many more chapters to write."