Search for life sciences chief back to square one
A year after the head of the state's biotech funding agency announced she would step down, officials tasked with choosing her successor have hit the reset button on the search.
Susan Windham-Bannister, the founding president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, participated in her last board meeting Tuesday more than a year after she announced that she planned to resign.
Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash said an interim leader of the organization could be announced before the next meeting, and officials will restart the search for Windham-Bannister's successor.
Ash, who is co-chairman of the center's board, said officials want to determine what course to chart for the future of the quasi-public agency established in 2008.
"The first thing you have to understand is what the scope of the job is going to be and so that is still being worked on," Ash said after the meeting. He said, "Determining what the role is will be part of both what we do to select a next executive director and then when we select a next executive director to work with him or her."
The Life Sciences Center distributes grants and loans, leveraging three times its investment in private capital to help foster biotech, an industry heralded as the Bay State's signature economic power. Windham-Bannister is paid $285,000 annually, according to state spending records.
The search for a new CEO began when Gov. Deval Patrick was in office and one of Patrick's top deputies said they hoped to find someone by the end of 2014. Last year, Patrick's Housing and Economic Development secretary, Greg Bialecki, declined to say how many people had applied for the position and said in October there was no deadline for applications.
Ash said he is not concerned the agency will be without a permanent leader, noting that he and Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore are co-chairpersons of the board.
Dominick Ianno, communications director for Lepore and former public affairs director for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has been designated by Lepore to sit on the board and is co-chairman.
Ash, who has been considering possible ways to consolidate the state's quasi-public agencies, said "at this point" he’s not considering merging the Life Sciences Center with one of the other quasi-public agencies.
Angus McQuilken, a spokesman for the center, said the prior search included the hiring of search firm Russell Reynolds at a cost of $105,000 to $110,000.
Windham-Bannister said the state is now "on top of the heap" in the biotech industry, but its position is not guaranteed.
"It's very important and it's very valuable, and a lot of other states and a lot of other countries want it, and they are investing very rapidly to unseat us so I hope that we'll stay the course," Windham-Bannister said.
Windham-Bannister, who had co-founded the consulting firm Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions before being tapped to lead the Life Sciences Center, described building the agency that was founded with a $1 billion bond authorization.
She said at first she was the only employee and was without office space embarking on a mission with a wider purview than other efforts around the country.
"They were doing things in very focused ways. California was very focused on stem cells. Texas was very focused on cancer. North Carolina has been very focused on bio-manufacturing. This was the most comprehensive initiative," Windham-Bannister said.
The outgoing CEO said her successor would need "credibility" in the industry, including technical knowledge, and she said she’s "not concerned" about the center being without a president for now.
"I have confidence in the administration and I have confidence in my team and the board," Windham-Bannister said.
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