EDA hires Heidi Krampitz as new Executive Director
The Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) announced on Nov. 13 the hiring of Heidi Krampitz as the EDA Executive Director.
Krampitz replaces the former EDA Executive Director Theresa Bajda, who resigned in August.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, Krampitz officially began the onboarding process in the new position. Later that evening, the EDA Board held its regular meeting and formerly introduced Krampitz.
“Economic development is all I know,” Krampitz said during the meeting. “It was all I was trained in. All I’ve been doing for my whole career, and I really, really enjoy it.”
Krampitz, a St. Cloud State University graduate in community development, brings over 20 years of economic development experience to Cook County. Most recently, she served as Economic Development Director of Kanabec County, with an approximate population of 16,000 people. The county seat is the town of Mora, Minn.
Prior to her time in Kanabec County, Krampitz worked in economic development in larger suburbs of the Twin Cities.
During her time serving as EDA director in Kanabec County, Krampitz said she was the sole EDA employee and wore many hats. Her role in Cook County will be similar, as the EDA director also operates without additional support staff.
Prior to Krampitz’s formal introduction to the EDA Board on Nov. 19, there was a public comment submitted by Cook County resident and journalist Joe Friedrichs regarding the process in which the redacted exit interview of the former EDA director was made public and the contents and themes it included. Friedrichs said, “Moving forward, I urge you to use the information that was shared in Theresa’s exit interview to examine the structure and operation of the EDA.”
Following the welcoming and introduction process, the EDA Board and Krampitz discussed the redacted exit interview and the process by which it was made publicly available. Krampitz said she had read the redacted exit interview on Nov. 18.
“I am not afraid of what I read,” Krampitz said. “I think it was really helpful for me, moving forward, to be aware of all the items.”
However, Krampitz said, “I do feel perhaps because this was public, it would have been more fair to the candidates, particularly me, to be made aware of it before making my decision to accept the position. Just so I knew everything, as much as I could going in since it was already public.”
“So that is a downside of the situation,” she said. Despite that, Krampitz said, “I feel that I can handle helping the community with whatever they will want and need for economic development.”
The EDA Board discussed during its Sept. 17 meeting, the challenges the former EDA Director faced and how to move forward. During the meeting, the board agreed to remove a large portion of the Superior National Golf Course duties from the EDA executive director job description and delegate the responsibilities to current Superior National Golf Course manager Mike Larson, Treasurer Mark Shackleton, and the Superior National Golf Course Board of Governors. Moving forward, the new EDA Director will still oversee and facilitate communication between the EDA and Superior National Golf Course.
Kalli Hawkins November 20, 2024
