POWAY - City officials announced Thursday that a Northern California man had been hired to be Poway's new economic development manager.

Kimball "Kim" Schmidt is scheduled to start his new job April 30. His selection ends an eight-month search for someone to replace Scott Edwards, who moved to Reno last summer.

Schmidt comes to Poway with 15 years of experience in economic development, with an emphasis on infrastructure projects. His most recent position was in Del Norte County near the California-Oregon border, where he served as economic development project director for the Tri-Agency Economic Development Authority.

Schmidt's resume also includes stints with the Colorado governor's office of business development and in the commercial real estate business in Japan.

Economic development managers are typically responsible for recruiting new businesses to the city and retaining those already in the community.

Poway's redevelopment services director, Dena Fuentes, said she chose Schmidt from a pool of roughly 21 applicants because of his strong background in that area.

"I think his experiences and his strengths will be very complementary to my experiences and strengths, which are real estate deal structuring and redevelopment," said Fuentes. "His are (business) recruitment, retention and marketing. So it's a nice balance of our skill sets."

She also described Schmidt, who will report to Fuentes, as someone who has an outgoing personality and a desire to learn more about construction and project management.

The salary for the economic development manager position is $83,952 to $102,048.

Attempts to reach Schmidt for comment Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful. Chris Howard, president of the Crescent City-Del Norte Chamber of Commerce, said he got to know Schmidt fairly well since he came to Del Norte County about two years ago. Howard described the city as one with a population of more than 9,000 people, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean near the California-Oregon border. The county is 36,000 square miles, sparsely populated and filled with state and national forests.

Although the region has a beautiful harbor and beautiful forests, Howard said, the county's economy is depressed because of its relative isolation, in addition to the toll that state and federal regulations have taken on the local fishing industry. Crescent City's Harbor Commission, the City Council and the county Board of Supervisors created the Tri-Agency Economic Development Authority to change that, he said.

Schmidt's position with the joint powers agency put him in charge of several economic development projects. Some of his biggest achievements included pulling together developers who could help turn the harbor into a tourist destination, and persuading a telecommunications company to spend millions on bringing broadband to the area so that it could attract big business, Howard said.

"It worked out very well while (Schmidt) was here," he said. "And we are going to miss him."

Poway's City Council recently agreed the city should start planning a town center that would add small shops, outdoor restaurants, offices and homes in the area between Poway Road and Poway Community Park. Schmidt walked that section of the city with city officials during his interview and left them impressed with the advance research he had done on the project and Poway in general, Fuentes said.

City Manager Rod Gould predicted that Schmidt will contribute a great deal as the city finishes the South Poway Business Park, proceeds with the town center's creation, and works to help businesses along Poway Road.

"I think that Kim brings the combination of economic development expertise and interpersonal skills that work really well with our business community," the city manager said. "And I look forward to his new ideas and new perspectives on our situation in Poway."

Schmidt holds a master's degree in planning and community development from the University of Colorado. He is married and has two children.

- Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.