FLORENCE – This afternoon, the Florence/Lauderdale County Tourism Department Board of Directors named its new Executive Director to replace 20+ year veteran, Debbie Wilson. The new Director is, Rob Carnegie. Carnegie was selected as part of a search by head hunter firm, Wheless Partners of Birmingham.
Carnegie, 47, is current director of tourism marketing and development for Kingston Economic Development Corporation in Kingston Ontario, Canada. He directed sport-marketing in Franklin, Tennessee for 3 years. Carnegie is also a country music performer. The fee for finding a new director lies between 32,500 and 50,000 dollars.
“Rob Carnegie is native of Kingston, Canada, he is a graduate of Trinity University in Miami, FL with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management. He is currently Director Tourism Kingston, a division of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation in Canada where he oversees a team of five staff including a seasonal team of students which work out of the Visitor Information Offices. In this position, he develops key partnerships with municipal and provincial government agencies along with key local industry stakeholders. Carnegie oversees the coordination and execution in multiple tourism industry segments including Leisure/Consumer, Meetings & Conferences, Travel Trade, Sport Tourism, Travel Media, Tourism Attraction and Visitor Services. Further to the marketing portfolio, he manages the Tourism Attraction & Investment file with a focus on developing Kingston’s product offering to visitors.. He has held the position of Director of Sport Tourism at Williamson County Convention & Visitors Bureau. He is a musician and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Penitentiary Museum.”
2 comments
Did I just read this correctly? They paid between $32K and $50K to find a guy that is going to make what? $75K as director a year? Wow!
No wonder Florence always needs new tax dollars. At least they could have kept it at home. I cannot believe there is no one in the whole Tri-Cities area that does not know this area better than someone from Canada. UNA has been turning out excellent Marketing students for a very long time. Most have had to move away from here , leaving family and friends, to find a decent job. What an insult to new and previous UNA Marketing Grads looking for a job–and to local tax payers. UNA also has an excellent graduate Career Counseling Service. Maybe the council needs to explore our local advantages before looking to a Yankee to promote a Southern way of life. No one from outside this area could be as interested in keeping local young people and local tax dollars at home as a local.