October 1, 2018
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
The City of Clinton is joining the two other largest cities in Western Oklahoma along the I-40 corridor which have an economic developer whose specific responsibility is to grow the town’s economic base.
Rowland Mower official starts in Clinton on January 2.
His selection follows a several month discussion and decision by city leaders to bring a professional dedicated to economic growth and was chosen by a committee comprised of the Clinton community’s business leaders. Mower will report to the economic development committee called the Clinton Development Authority, not the city manager.
He’s currently the president/CEO of Port San Antonio making three times the salary of what he will be making in Clinton. But, he feels it’s time to make a change and is looking forward to the opportunity in Western Oklahoma.
He says there will be a number of important and justifiable different directions he could be pulled into once he gets his feet wet in Clinton, but knows that growing the economic base and bringing in high paying jobs is the main role of any good economic developer.
The idea of a dedicated economic developer began in earnest with Clinton Mayor David Berrong and in May, the council appropriated $500-thousand dollars for a new body, the Economic Development Authority. That half-a-million dollars would get the authority off to a good, five-year start, paid one-fifth of the total each year and paid out of the city’s E.D Fund.
Mower has worked in four different states and six different communities and has found that citizens are much more critical of their home-town than those outside the community. They fail to see their own potential. Mower says the good qualities of Clinton are easy to see.
Mower is married to Charlotte Yochem who will join him in the move to Clinton. She is currently an attorney in private practice in Texas.
With his varied background, Mower sees the benefit of nearby communities working together on a regional basis. Though competitive for every job possible, there’s still a great opportunity working regionally with nearby sister cities.
His annual salary is expected to be $105-thousand dollars a year plus benefits.
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