Harlingen economic development chief moves on

HARLINGEN — Economic Development Corporation CEO Bill Martin announced Tuesday that he is resigning and taking a job for the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce in Iowa and Illinois.
Martin will be president of Quad Cities First, the economic development arm of the chamber.
Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa-Illinois border.
“Harlingen is an exciting community, and is full of opportunity,” Martin said Tuesday. “I was happy to have been a part of the success.”
Martin had been the EDC CEO since Sept. 2007, and highlighted many projects during that time for which he is proud.
Those include bringing Bass Pro Shops, United Health Group and Spring Dynamics to Harlingen. Martin also mentioned the major role the EDC took in establishing the University Center on the Texas State Technical College campus.
“It has been a great experience working with Bill,” EDC Board President Ernesto Silva said. “He is a very knowledgeable person and has done a lot to bring economic development to Harlingen working within the boundaries of the financial restraints from the economy. He will do well in Iowa.”
Past EDC board member Scott Alex had nothing but good things to say about Martin.
“He is the consummate professional and a joy to work with,” Allex said of Martin. “I hold him in very high regard and enjoyed serving on the EDC board with Martin as CEO for two years.”
Martin said he and his wife spent time searching for a new home in both Illinois and Iowa and have decided to settle in Davenport, Iowa.
“My whole career has been spent helping start new economic development efforts or revitalizing existing efforts,” Martin said.
The Quad Cities has a metro area of 400,000 people and Martin said the chamber has done a lot of reorganization recently that “looks very exciting.”
Silva has said the EDC will hold a special meeting next week to discuss its next step. He said Martin announced this to the board on Sunday and will work through March.
“We will come together as a board and decide what is in the best interest of the EDC and Harlingen,” Silva said.

daltenburg@valleystar.com