By DAVID COLBURN

News editor

Spurned by the only person offered the position, Hillsboro is back in the hunt for an economic development director.

“We’re going back to square one to start recruiting again,” city administrator Larry Paine said.

Former director Clint Seibel’s retirement is official, so he’s not available to pinch hit for the city for at least 60 days because of Kansas Public Employee Retirement System rules.

That leaves Paine and Mayor Delores Dalke to pick up the slack while the search continues.

“Right now we don’t have anybody, but that doesn’t mean we have closed for business,” Dalke said. “The bad thing is that no networking is being done throughout for prospects because Larry is busy, and so am I.”

Paine said the only major item on the economic development agenda at the moment is finding a tenant for the former Alco building, which is being handled by a Wichita commercial real estate firm.

Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce President Cynthia Fleming said they were ready to assist if needed.

“If we got a call, depending on what it’s for, we’d do whatever we could to facilitate and keep the interest there,” she said. “We’d coordinate with Larry and Delores for the good of the town.”

Fleming said she didn’t have specific qualifications in mind for a new economic development director, but emphasized supporting existing businesses should go along with recruiting new retail and industrial firms.

Paine said some individuals contacted him about the position after the deadline for applications, which excluded them from being interviewed. This time he’s taken a different approach to recruiting.

“It’s called ‘open until filled,’” he said.