Kansas City Area Development Council names new officers

The organization charged with attracting new businesses to the metropolitan area said Wednesday that it had the talent within the Kansas City Area Development Council to lead its marketing efforts into the future.

Tim Cowden, the council’s senior vice president of business development since 2000, was tapped to succeed Bob Marcusse, who will retire Jan. 31 after 25 years as CEO. Cowden will take on the CEO role on Feb. 1.

The council’s board of directors also promoted Martin Mini, who has worked in the organization’s marketing and communications department since 1995, to the position of chief marketing officer.

The board had conducted a national talent search, led by Mark Henderson, an executive at Lockton Companies.

“We identified eight or nine candidates, narrowed the group from outside Kansas City to four, began the interview process and narrowed it to two,” Henderson said. “One of them came to Kansas City for two days. At the end of the day, it was close between Tim and the other candidate, but because of Tim’s knowledge of the community and his existing working relationships, we decided that it would make the transition easier (to select Cowden).”

KCADC staff members reach outside the 18-county metro area to attract new businesses and jobs. They help lead area growth initiatives including KC SmartPort, KC Animal Health Corridor, KCnext and TeamKC. They also work with KC Rising and the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute on business development issues.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Kansas City Area Development Council names new officers."