Ariz. consultant favored to run EDC
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IO.INC
IOANNA MORFESSIS, a Phoenix-based consultant, was recommended by a search panel to become the next executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
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PROVIDENCE – A search committee has unanimously recommended Ioanna T. Morfessis, a consultant from Phoenix with a Ph.D. in economic-development policy, to become the next head of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC), Rep. Donna Walsh told Providence Business News on Friday.
Morfessis “has a proven track record … and I really was impressed with her,” said Walsh, D-Charlestown, a member of the search committee. “She’s very much a person that I think can bring a lot of energy and optimism and creativity to what she does.”
Morfessis is president of IO.INC, a Phoenix-based consulting firm she founded five years ago. From 1997 to 2003, she served as president and CEO of the nonprofit Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore Inc. in Maryland.
Before that, Morfessis was president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council in Arizona for eight years, according to her résumé. She was executive director of the Phoenix Economic Growth Corporation from 1985 to 1989.
Alfred J. Verrecchia, chairman of the search committee, declined to detail the status of negotiations or say how many finalists were left in the applicant pool. But he said that the committee was working with Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s office to advance the search process.
Verrecchia said legislation signed Thursday by the governor will also speed up the process. The new law provides the next director of the EDC with a three-year contract. Under the former structure, the director’s term would have ended when Gov. Donald L. Carcieri left office in 2011.
“I think now everything will move along pretty quickly,” Verrecchia said.
The governor, the EDC’s board of directors and the Senate all must sign off on the candidate.
The administration has been searching for a new director since Saul Kaplan stepped down last December to lead the nonprofit Business Innovation Factory full time. Since Kaplan’s departure, J. Michael Saul, the EDC’s deputy director, has served as the agency’s interim director. Verrecchia said Saul did not apply for the job.
Walsh said the search committee conducted a nationwide search, brought in four candidates for interviews and then narrowed the field to two candidates, who came in for second interviews. The committee ultimately decided to recommend Morfessis.
Morfessis’ résumé says she received her bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C. She went on to earn a master’s of public administration at The George Washington University and a doctorate in economic development at Arizona State University.
Morfessis got her start in 1974 as director of resource development at the Greater Washington Business Center in Washington, D.C. She went on to work for the government of Montgomery Co., Md., before moving to Arizona in 1985 to lead the Phoenix Economic Growth Corporation.
Resumes can tell a lot. Morfessis's resume is totally silent on what she has been doing since 2006. Why? The Arizona Republic reported on March 13, 2006 that she was Maricopa Arizona's "Economic Development Director. in 2006. Today, she is their economic development consultant.
Why isn't this listed on her resume? Maracopa is an economic disaster! One recent housing listing there shows a three bedroom, two bath, two car garage modern home listed for $69,000. Three years ago, similar houses were selling for well over $200,000 in Maricopa.
She is trying to get the city to purchase a large feed lot for over $1 million to build yet more homes in this nationally televised ground zero for the housing collapse. The blogs show that this is the effort of a major real estate developer who is willing to put up housing next door to another feed lot housing over 20,000 head of cattle and near other large-scale agricultural operations. Who would ever want to live there?
Her major economic development win at Maricopa was the building of a new Walmart near the AK-Chin Community, an Indian tribe, and Maracopa's largest employer. AK-Chin had the resources to build and support this facility. But, the Walmart ended up off the reservation.
I, for one, would be much happier with her disclosing where she has been for the past five years, who she actually worked for, and what vision she has to pull Rhode Island out of its financial mess through economic development. Clearly, real estate development is not the answer. But, it appears as if that is what she has been doing for the past five years -- which makes total sense if you are an "economic development consultant" in Maricopa, Arizona.
Mortessis is a lightning rod in Arizona. Here are a couple of postings about a story that appeared in the Maricopa city newspaper, where she has served as the economic development adviser since at least 2005. The only employer that she seems to have brought into Maricopa is WalMart. And she stole that placement from the Indian tribe down the street. Go to inmaricopa.com for real stories about her. Here is a quote from that source published just the other day:
"Morfessis said she could not comment on the type of employers because of confidentiality agreements, “but it is a wide variety of employers.” - ALWAYS the promise, but nothing ever materializes. She's great at squeezing money from the city. (cholo bandito)
# What a crock, there are NO employment opportunities here in Maricopa that pay a decent wage....... (JasonY)"