The net was cast far and wide and they came from as far away as Florida and New York looking to replace Warren Olson as director of the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council (EDC). Yet when it was all said and done, and after a nationwide search, a Bainbridge Island man relatively unknown to the Kitsap business community, was offered the job. Zoltan Szigethy will become the new executive director on Sept. 1.

Earlier this year, Olson, 56, announced plans to leave the nonprofit organization and join his wife, Janice Harding, who had recently retired from an executive position. The couple are building a getaway home on the Long Beach peninsula and plan to enjoy retirement while they’re still relatively young. Olson has agreed to stay on as director until Szigethy assumes the position.

Szigethy (pronounced SIG-ety), 61, is something of a mystery man to the Kitsap business community, although he’s lived on Bainbridge Island since 1972 and spent a good deal of his working life in Seattle.

His resume is impressive however. He brings experience in private enterprise, public service and nonprofit activism to the job. His background includes real estate management, banking, and development experience, as well as managing government community service programs for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and a stint as a Model Cities specialist for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He has run his own closely-held company, Ambit Development, a consulting service focused on public and private administration, and the charitable Ambit Foundation. He has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in North Borneo, and later as associate director of the organization in Malaysia.

While with Seattle’s Harbor Properties, a $50 million company, Szigethy was responsible for 390 employees. While there, he helped create mixed-use developments in downtown Seattle that included retail, condominiums, low income housing and parking. He was involved in the completion of the 250,000 sq. ft. South Arcade project and led pre-construction activities on the 1.3 million sq., ft. Harbor Steps project.

Szigethy was also involved in the strategic planning for Midtown Commons, a community-based Seattle development corporation and for Northwest Environment Watch, a research institute concerned with sustainability issues.

In the 1970s, he served as assistant superintendent of buildings for the city of Seattle. He also was a vice president in the executive office of Seattle Trust and Savings Bank, where his responsibilities included special lending opportunities in new, atypical or undercapitalized business ventures.

Karl Jonietz, chairman of the EDC’s board of directors is very high on Szigethy. “First and foremost, we wanted someone who ‘spoke business’ and who could relate to this community,” said Jonietz. “Szigethy was a near perfect match out of a field of strong candidates.”

Jonietz cited Szigethy’s excellent communication skills, analytical abilities, intelligence and leadership expertise as reasons he stood out among what the board viewed as an excellent field of applicants. “This guy had it all,” he said, “Real estate, land-use planning, for-profit and not-for-profit experience. We sat down and prepared a lengthy list of characteristics. (Szigethy) checked every box.”

Jonietz headed the seven-member search committee for a new director. In June, the search was narrowed down to seven finalists who came from as far away as New York, Florida and California as well from Washington, including at least one other person besides Szigethy from Kitsap County.

Jonietz said Szigethy stood out because his background and experience so closely matched what the search committee was looking for in a director.

Szigethy has spent the past several years volunteering and working without pay in order to spend time with his youngest son, who will begin his first year at his father’s alma matter, Princeton University, in the fall. Following in his father’s footsteps, Zsigethy’s oldest son is working for the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan.

Szigethy was born in the Hungarian part of Romania to Hungarian parents who emigrated to the United States as refugees when he was 10 years old. He grew up on the East Coast and attended Princeton University, moving to Seattle in 1961 to attend graduate school at the University of Washington.

He lived in Hungary during the mid-1990s, working in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe where he created and headed an institute to advance the reform of local government there on behalf of financier George Soros.

As for his plans for the EDC, Zsigethy was mum, saying he had a lot to learn yet about exactly what Kitsap County needed.

Jonietz said, “There is no quick fix to sound economic development. It requires persistent advocacy and calls for many of us to work as partners to create a hospitable climate that attracts and nurtures clean business for our work force. The board of directors welcomes Zoltan in our joint efforts to create diversity of employment opportunities in the communities of Kitsap County..