Survey shows Louisville to pay more for economic development consultant than Canton, Akron

A survey of nearby cities shows that Louisville City Council plans to pay its former city manager one of the highest economic development director salaries in the region.

The Canton Repository surveyed 21 cities, ranging in population from Canal Fulton with 5,300 residents to Akron with 188,509 residents, to see how much they paid their economic development director or consultant. Economic development directors are responsible for retaining existing businesses, helping businesses expand and attracting new business to the community.

The survey was prompted by Louisville City Council’s split vote on Aug. 7 to hire Tom Pukys as its economic development consultant at a salary of $131,200 a year. Some council members said the compensation was too high compared to other cities.

Pukys was hired as Louisville’s city manager in December 2021 and handled both city manager and economic development duties. Council members said they sought to move Pukys to an economic development role because he wasn’t suited to being a city manager.

What does the survey show?

Of the 19 survey responses received by Friday, Louisville’s salary of $131,200 is the second highest.

Only Cuyahoga Falls, a city with a population five times bigger than Louisville’s 9,518 residents, pays its full-time economic development director a higher salary at $133,392, the survey shows.

The average salary for an economic development director or consultant is $90,195 a year, according to the survey. The salaries do not include the cost of employee benefits.

The survey also shows that 14 of the cities have an employee dedicated to economic development, while three of them rely on either a consultant or a business that specializes in economic development.

New Philadelphia and Macedonia rely on their mayors to handle economic development responsibilities. Warren and Dover did not respond.

Louisville councilman: 'A good chance for a good payback'

Louisville Councilman Dick Slackford said Pukys’ salary as an economic development consultant is based on his salary as city manager. As city manager, Pukys annually earned $122,000 in salary, $3,000 for a car allowance and $6,000 for not taking the city’s health insurance.

Slackford said the salary also reflects council’s confidence in Pukys to help bring in new businesses to the city. He pointed to Pukys’ previous roles as the president of the Alliance Area Development Foundation and president of the Wayne Economic Development Council in Wooster. He also noted how business owners and community leaders, such as Ray Hexamer from the Stark Economic Development Board, have praised Pukys’ abilities.

“Even though it’s a little high, I think there’s a good chance for a good payback for the city,” Slackford said.

Councilman Corey Street, who met with the mayor, assistant city manager and the then-law director to determine the level of compensation the city was going to offer Pukys, said Pukys' consultant salary is in line with what he was being offered a few years ago by former City Manager Larry Collins, who died in September 2021. Street said Collins was looking to offer Pukys $100,000 per year to be an economic development consultant.

Street said Pukys also boasts credentials that most other economic development directors do not.

"To my knowledge, he is the only Certified Economic Development Professional in all of Stark County − which makes comparing him and other officials tasked with economic development a bit like apples and oranges," said Street, noting that the city no longer must contribute toward Pukys' public retirement pension because he is an independent contractor.

Slackford also emphasized that council can cancel Pukys’ consultant contract if he doesn’t perform. Unlike his city manager contract that required council to pay four months of severance if it ended Pukys’ contract early, the consultant contract does not include a severance clause if council chooses to terminate the agreement before Jan. 2, 2025.

Councilwoman Joanie Aljancic, who also voted to hire Pukys as an economic development consultant, did not return a message seeking comment.

Mayor Pat Fallot and council member Jim Taylor had voted against hiring Pukys as a consultant. They both have previously cited the contract's high salary as reasons for opposing the contract.

How did other cities come up with their salaries?

At least two of the cities surveyed have hired an economic development director within the past 14 months.

Canal Fulton tapped its council clerk Alyssa Bettis to be its economic development director in March.

Mayor Joe Schultz said he considered hiring someone new for the position and looked at what other nearby cities were paying for their economic development directors or similar positions. He recalls Louisville had been seeking someone for a similar position and was offering $92,000 a year.

“Nobody, except our engineer, makes over $90,000 a year,” Schultz said. “But at the same token, we felt it was important to have somebody.”

Bettis, who has been with the city since 2019, still is the city council clerk, but she no longer also serves as the assistant to the city manager.

For the additional economic development duties, council added $6,387 to Bettis’ existing $50,013 salary.

City Manager Dan Bucher Jr. said Bettis also will serve as the secretary and city liaison for the Canton Fulton Area Chamber of Commerce, which is looking to rebound after its membership dwindled during the coronavirus pandemic.

The city of Canton hired two economic development directors last year. The first director lasted only six weeks.

Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei said city leaders did not conduct a salary survey when they posted the job the second time because they already had a good idea of what the market would bear. Canton, which has a population of 69,671 residents, was offering a salary between $88,990 and $123,235 for the full-time, cabinet-level post.

Chris Hardesty, who had been working as Green’s community development administrator and had four years of previous experience with Canton, was hired in June 2022 at a salary of $95,000. He now earns $97,850 a year.

Canton Repository staff writer Abreanna Blose contributed to this article.

Reach Repository writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

City economic development director salaries

The Canton Repository contacted 21 different communities to find out how much they pay their economic development directors or consultants. Here's what we found:

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Louisville pays economic development consultant more than most cities