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Sterling bolts
for Paducah
by Virginia Business Staff
July 2003
The
$200,000 a year man is now the $180,000 a year man.
Wayne Sterling, the former head of economic development
for both Vir-ginia and South Car-olina, raised eyebrows
in 2001 when he was named chief corporate recruiter
for hard-bitten Henry County in the heart of Virginia’s
textile belt. His salary was $200,000 a year –
among the highest of an public official in the state.
Yet
in early June Sterling took over in a similar job in
Kentucky as head of the Greater Paducah Economic Development
Council for a salary reported to start at $180,000.
Sterling’s move surprised Henry County officials,
who had confronted an embezzlement scandal of their
former county supervisor. Sterling left his job in South
Carolina for Henry County under a cloud for supposed
financial irregularities but was later exonerated by
a state watchdog group.
Some
in Henry County have asked if they got their money’s
worth with Sterling during his 18-month-long tenure.
In early June, one of the prospects that Sterling recruited,
telecom equipment maker, Axiom Technologies, announced
it was delaying the start of a Henry County operation
that would employ 250 workers.
Virginia
Business - July 2003
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