The Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas now has a new leader, at least for the next few months.
Lyle Butler was approved unanimously by the RDA Board of Directors during a meeting Friday morning. A board member for ESB Financial and Frontier Financial Partners, both based in Emporia, Butler retired in 2019 from his long-term position as president and CEO of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce. Before going into economic development, Butler had senior management experience in banking and radio broadcasting in both Kansas and Colorado.
Butler follows Jim Witt, who served as the RDA’s interim CEO for over a year after Chuck Scott resigned in January 2024.
Board Chair Jeff Williams says the official CEO search will resume, but not yet. The city’s Economic Development Advancement Committee will finalize recommendations for possible structural adjustments to RDA operations by April. The CEO search will then restart in May after recommendations from the RDA’s external search partner, Jorgensen Pace. The current schedule has interviews in June, with a new CEO in place by August.
