Economic director search team includes Springfield chamber chief

Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday announced a panel of seven business leaders statewide to help find the next director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, and the head of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is among them.

Chamber President Jim Anderson joins six others on the panel to find a replacement for Linda Martinez, who abruptly resigned Sept. 14 after less than nine months in the DED leadership role. Deputy Director Katie Steele Danner, a former Hollister resident. is filling the director's chair on an interim basis.

Joining Anderson on the committee are Dick Fleming, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association; Tom Irwin, executive director of Civic Progress in St. Louis; Pete Levi, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; Clyde McQueen, president and CEO of the Full Employment Council of Kansas City; Kathy Osborn, executive director of the Regional Business Council in St. Louis; and Larry Rebman, director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Nixon announced the panel prior to his trip to St. Louis for his Show-Me Business Tour, where he meets with Missouri business leaders about opportunities and challenges for business growth and job creation. Nixon plans to put together an economic development policy package to present to the General Assembly when the group reconvenes in January.