In 20 days a new executive director takes over at Duluth's Great Lakes Aquarium -- with reasons to actually believe calmer waters could lie ahead for the too-often storm-wracked bayfront attraction.
The hiring of Jack LaVoy, announced this week, marks a seizing of local control of the world's only freshwater aquarium. LaVoy, most recently the director of business expansion for APEX, a private-sector economic-development group in Duluth, has deep Northland roots and is a University of Minnesota Duluth graduate.
He brings a strong grasp of both the public and private sectors -- and a balanced perspective of each, born from years of experience.
On the public side, LaVoy was a DFL representative in the Minnesota House of Representatives during the early 1970s; he worked for the Seaway Port Authority of Duluth; he helped to establish the city of Duluth's office of business development; and, while working for the city, he helped develop the downtown skywalks and find new uses for the former air base. On the Iron Range, he worked as special projects administrator for what is now called Iron Range Resources.
On the private side, in addition to working for APEX, LaVoy was vice president of external relations at the Lake Superior Paper Industries paper mill in West Duluth, was executive vice president of Minnesota Forest Industries Inc., and was executive vice president of the Minnesota Timber Producers Association.
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He's no novice to the aquarium, either. LaVoy was Mayor Herb Bergson's choice this year to lead a blue-ribbon panel that has been re-evaluating the aquarium's efforts and written plan for self-sufficiency.
"Jack is a nuts-and-bolts guy who can really make a difference in any project he dives into," Bergson told the News Tribune editorial page staff yesterday.
"He's a visionary who thinks ahead and figures out where people and projects and organizations need to be, and he builds consensus on how to get there," said Marshall Weems, who worked with LaVoy in City Hall. "He always accomplishes what he sets out to do."
"Jack fits," aquarium Board Chairman Pat Schoff said earlier in the week after LaVoy's hiring was announced. "He has the breadth of experience and a wealth of local connections."
Those connections, along with LaVoy's reputation for unflagging honesty, will be keys in pulling together the talent and resources needed to build on a foundation established during three strong years of aquarium management by Ripley's Leisure Entertainment.
LaVoy's own comments this week indicate his priorities are well-placed: "I want to first focus on making sure ... all animal exhibits are fully stocked and in good health," he said. And he demonstrated a realistic grasp of the task ahead and that accomplishments won't come overnight: "I want to engage the staff and the board and community stake holders in looking at the facility and helping develop a vision for how we might grow it over time."
Optimism and the Great Lakes Aquarium haven't often swum in the same tank. But they certainly seem together now. We wish Jack LaVoy the best of luck.
