The Research Triangle Foundation has hired a Greenboro-based executive search firm to help recruit the organization's next CEO.

The foundation, which oversees the 7,000-acre Research Triangle Park, announced today that it selected Jorgenson Consulting to conduct its search, which will be run by a nine-person search committee comprised of foundation board members. The foundation cited Jorgenson's experience in recruiting in the non-profit and economic development arenas.

The foundation is seeking to replace Rick Weddle, who announced his departure in February to become CEO of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.

Rick Weddle said he was recruited for half a dozen jobs in the past year before accepting a position as a top economic development recruiter for the Orlando region.

The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission announced last week that it has hired Weddle, poaching one of the Triangle's best-known business recruiters and cheerleaders.

Weddle has been the CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation, which oversees Research Triangle Park, since 2004. While he said he will miss this region, he's eager to tackle a new opportunity.

He spoke by telephone from his home in Cary. Here are some highlights from that interview:

Research Triangle Park's top pitchman is going to Disney World.

Rick Weddle, who has run the Research Triangle Foundation since 2004, has quit to become CEO of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.

Weddle is expected to start in Orlando on March 14. He and his wife Ginger will relocate to central Florida from Cary.

Liz Rooks, the RTP foundation's executive vice president, will take over as interim CEO. The foundation oversees the 7,000-acre RTP and is in the process of updating the park's master plan.

A team led by a New York urban design firm will take the next 12 months to review potential changes to the Research Triangle Park’s master plan.

The Research Triangle Foundation, which owns and manages the park, said today the review will consider changes to zoning and land uses and the transportation network within the park.

The effort will be led by Cooper, Robertson & Partners, an architecture and urban design firm. The firm was selected by a task force comprised of foundation board members and chaired by Richard Daugherty, a retired IBM executive.

This will be the first update to RTP's master plan since the nearly 7,000-acre park was formed in 1959.
 

The foundation that runs Research Triangle Park, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is preparing a new strategy to ensure the park remains competitive.

The board of the Research Triangle Foundation is scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss developing a new master plan, said spokeswoman Cara Rousseau. The task force is being led by board member Richard Daugherty, a retired IBM executive.

It will be the first update to RTP's master plan since the nearly 7,000-acre park was formed in 1959, Rousseau said. The new strategy is scheduled to be put in place over the next 12 months.

Foundation CEO Rick Weddle, left, was traveling today and couldn't be reached for further comment. Weddle has said repeatedly that RTP needs to evolve to adapt to new competition and a changing economy.

The national press is shining spotlights on challenges facing two icons of the Triangle business scene.

On Monday, Business Week wrote about the planned evolution of Research Triangle Park from an industrial park dominated by large companies to a mixed development with more shops and housing. And on Sunday, the New York Times wrote a meaty profile of SAS and the challenges the Cary-based software company faces.

The Business Week article, "Reimagining the Science Park in North Carolina,"  focuses mostly on Rick Weddle, CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation, which manages RTP, and his ideas for making the park feel livelier. That includes adding more amenities that cater to RTP workers.

"Over time, this will tip to where it's even more about the people," says Weddle, left, who has run the foundation for five years.