Executive Search

Hiring a chief executive to spearhead the Baltimore-Washington area's bid for the 2012 Olympics is taking longer than expected.Business and civic leaders knew it was ambitious but had hoped to fill the position by this month. They now say it may be the first of the year before someone is in place."We're still a long way from really having anyone come in as our CEO and president," said John Morton III, president of NationsBank Corp.'s Mid-Atlantic Banking Group, and volunteer chairman of the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition.

Paul Derstine, retired executive director of a New Windsor-based nonprofit global health company and former interim head of Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, has been named interim director of Baltimore Clayworks. Derstine succeeds Benjamin Schulman, who resigned under pressure in June amid questions about his leadership and financial problems at the longtime ceramics studio on Smith Avenue. Derstine will serve as interim manager while the Clayworks board conducts a national search for a permanent executive director.

Legg Mason Inc. plans to hire an executive search firm to help find a new CEO who would lead the Baltimore money manager once its revered founder Raymond A. "Chip" Mason retires, elevating the prospect that someone outside the company will be tapped. The company has been without a successor to Mason since James W. Hirschmann, who was offered the post, bowed out in April, saying he wanted to remain in California with his family as head of Western Asset Management, Legg Mason's largest subsidiary.

Legg Mason Inc. plans to hire an executive search firm to help find a new CEO who would lead the Baltimore money manager once its revered founder Raymond A. "Chip" Mason retires, elevating the prospect that someone outside the company will be tapped. The company has been without a successor to Mason since James W. Hirschmann, who was offered the post, bowed out in April, saying he wanted to remain in California with his family as head of Western Asset Management, Legg Mason's largest subsidiary.

Ten executive search firms are vying for the chance to help the Columbia Council pick a Columbia Association president. The council hopes to select a search firm by the end of next month, and with the firm's help, find a president by the end of the year. In July, the Columbia Council invited about 30 search firms from across the country to bid on the consulting job. Eleven firms responded, but one of the bids was not complete, officials said. The responses were provided to council members Sunday.

Maryland transportation officials said yesterday that they are still searching for a new airport director and are considering taking legal action against an executive search firm that resigned Monday amid accusations that the hiring process was tainted by state officials. The Maryland Aviation Commission, which oversees Baltimore-Washington International Airport, voted March 13 to recommend that Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari hire Paul J. Wiedefeld, a Baltimore construction and engineering executive with extensive experience managing state transportation projects.

A former hiring director for Perdue Farms Inc. was given a 10-month sentence yesterday for bilking the poultry company's national headquarters in Salisbury of $177,320 in a mail fraud scheme.Ralph E. Nuzzo, 44, used his position as Perdue's assistant director of human resources to convince the company that 12 employees had been hired for its foods division through executive search agencies. For their services, such agencies are typically paid a finder's fee based on a percentage of the employee's salary.

The Columbia Council has agreed to spend up to $35,000 to find a new Columbia Association president and has hired a Chicago-based executive search consultant to help. The council chose the search firm DMG-MAXIMUS late Thursday at a meeting. It voted to spend $17,500 for consulting fees, up to $8,500 for the firm's expenses and up to $9,000 for the expenses of finalists asked to travel to Columbia for interviews. DMG-MAXIMUS' headquarters are in Tallahassee, Fla., but the consultant who will work with the Columbia Association is based in the company's Chicago office, said Councilman Kirk Halpin of Kings Contrivance, chairman of the council's executive search firm selection committee.

Paul Derstine, retired executive director of a New Windsor-based nonprofit global health company and former interim head of Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, has been named interim director of Baltimore Clayworks. Derstine succeeds Benjamin Schulman, who resigned under pressure in June amid questions about his leadership and financial problems at the longtime ceramics studio on Smith Avenue. Derstine will serve as interim manager while the Clayworks board conducts a national search for a permanent executive director.

Under mounting pressure, Baltimore's convention and visitors bureau said yesterday that it will release to the public a consultant's report that roundly criticized its operations as ineffective and called its management weak. After first promising to release the report, executives of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association reneged, and for weeks have refused to release the document. As criticism grew, BACVA released a 15-page summary of the report on Feb. 21. But that did not quell demands for full disclosure.

WASHINGTON -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. confirmed yesterday that it is seeking a senior manager to oversee "new strategic initiatives" in the mortgage business, but said the move does not signal an expansion into retail banking. Some bankers, lawmakers and Wall Street analysts disagreed, saying they believe the executive search shows the retail giant is planning to move into full-service banking, despite promises to the contrary to federal regulators. "This is the smoking gun. What more do you need?"

Clad in pressed slacks and a sharp vest, Christopher Kerns stood before a group of colleagues as they went around the room reciting which of the job-finding tasks they had completed. How many networking calls had they made this week? How many resumes had they each sent out? Did they have any informational interviews? What about a formal job interview? "It's continually putting my job search in front of me," one of his colleagues, Randy Daems, 29, said of the process. "I know every Thursday I'm going to be coming to this meeting and talking about what I did that week."

Under mounting pressure, Baltimore's convention and visitors bureau said yesterday that it will release to the public a consultant's report that roundly criticized its operations as ineffective and called its management weak. After first promising to release the report, executives of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association reneged, and for weeks have refused to release the document. As criticism grew, BACVA released a 15-page summary of the report on Feb. 21. But that did not quell demands for full disclosure.

A Maryland planning executive whose firm is involved in the $1.8 billion expansion of Baltimore-Washington International Airport was named the state's top aviation administrator yesterday, ending a search that has spanned one of the most turbulent years in the airport's history. Gov. Parris N. Glendening's office announced that Paul J. Wiedefeld, vice president of engineering and design firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Inc., was his pick as executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration, which oversees BWI and other state-run airports.

Maryland transportation officials said yesterday that they are still searching for a new airport director and are considering taking legal action against an executive search firm that resigned Monday amid accusations that the hiring process was tainted by state officials. The Maryland Aviation Commission, which oversees Baltimore-Washington International Airport, voted March 13 to recommend that Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari hire Paul J. Wiedefeld, a Baltimore construction and engineering executive with extensive experience managing state transportation projects.

The Columbia Council has agreed to spend up to $35,000 to find a new Columbia Association president and has hired a Chicago-based executive search consultant to help. The council chose the search firm DMG-MAXIMUS late Thursday at a meeting. It voted to spend $17,500 for consulting fees, up to $8,500 for the firm's expenses and up to $9,000 for the expenses of finalists asked to travel to Columbia for interviews. DMG-MAXIMUS' headquarters are in Tallahassee, Fla., but the consultant who will work with the Columbia Association is based in the company's Chicago office, said Councilman Kirk Halpin of Kings Contrivance, chairman of the council's executive search firm selection committee.

CHICAGO -- Executive recruiters, the headhunters who find top executives for employers, often play a role in keeping women and minorities out of top jobs.Even if they only are following their clients' orders.The recent study released by the Labor Department on the glass ceiling -- the discriminatory barrier that keeps qualified women and minorities from moving to executive levels -- points out that one of the reasons women plateau at lower management levels is that corporations do not instruct headhunters to include females among the candidate mix.Another problem: the scarcity of female headhunters.

WASHINGTON -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. confirmed yesterday that it is seeking a senior manager to oversee "new strategic initiatives" in the mortgage business, but said the move does not signal an expansion into retail banking. Some bankers, lawmakers and Wall Street analysts disagreed, saying they believe the executive search shows the retail giant is planning to move into full-service banking, despite promises to the contrary to federal regulators. "This is the smoking gun. What more do you need?"

Ten executive search firms are vying for the chance to help the Columbia Council pick a Columbia Association president. The council hopes to select a search firm by the end of next month, and with the firm's help, find a president by the end of the year. In July, the Columbia Council invited about 30 search firms from across the country to bid on the consulting job. Eleven firms responded, but one of the bids was not complete, officials said. The responses were provided to council members Sunday.

Hiring a chief executive to spearhead the Baltimore-Washington area's bid for the 2012 Olympics is taking longer than expected.Business and civic leaders knew it was ambitious but had hoped to fill the position by this month. They now say it may be the first of the year before someone is in place."We're still a long way from really having anyone come in as our CEO and president," said John Morton III, president of NationsBank Corp.'s Mid-Atlantic Banking Group, and volunteer chairman of the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition.