The Virginia Economic Development Partnership
has announced that Jeffrey Anderson will be the new executive director of the organization, replacing the retiring Mark Kilduff. Anderson previously was executive vice-president of global integration for BearingPoint.
In selecting Anderson, the Partnership bypassed the entire economic development profession. An executive recruiting firm hired by the VEDP screened 150 candidates over five months. Executive Director of the VEDP is quite a plum job, paying up to $200,000 annually and offering much more flexibility in hiring and firing staff than is available in state agencies.
A Google search on Anderson reveals a fascinating career message board hosted by BearingPoint. Two anonymous posters had some unflattering things to say about him, here and here.
I wonder if the search firm checked those comments out. They might be accurate; they might be jealous sniping. Those of us in the blogosphere are acutely aware of the pros and cons of anonymous posting. Would we want to be judged by anonymous criticism? Is there any other way to get contemporaneous criticism of a candidate’s performance without looking at unfiltered commentary on blogs and message boards? Lord knows only good stuff comes in the candiate’s application packet.