Hammond’s Phil Taillon will get his chance to run the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority after he was chosen as a top contender for the post during the agency’s second national search in as many years.
The board Wednesday approved allowing the search team to enter into contract negotiations after he was selected for the job. Officials expect to finalize the deal at the regular May meeting.
Taillon was one of three finalists in the hiring process and was ultimately tapped to replace former President and CEO David Uran, who resigned in December.
Taillon and Uran were the two finalists in 2022 after a nationwide search to replace former President and CEO Speros Batistatos.
Andy Qunell, director of the board, said ODS, the firm hired to conduct the national search, narrowed down the field to three candidates who were then interviewed by the selection committee. Qunell was not part of selection committee. The other two finalists were not local, he said. One was a CEO in tourism in the marketing aspect and the other individual also had a tourism background but was not a CEO.
“We like Phil’s leadership skills and the ability to navigate a lot of the processes in the communities,” Qunell said.
Taillon has an expected start date of June 10.
Taillon has been with the City of Hammond since September 2008, serving as director of economic development prior to taking over as chief of staff in August 2017. Prior to joining the city’s staff, he was an assistant vice president and branch manager for First Midwest Bank. He is a graduate of Purdue University Northwest.
“I’m excited. This is the first job that I applied for in 25 years. I think that says it all. I’ve always thought my strengths align very well with this role,” Taillon said.
He said his economic development background with the city has prepared him.
“One of my favorite definitions of economic development is the creation of new wealth — bringing dollars into the community from outside the community — and that’s tourism,” Taillon said.
Taillon said he has a lot of ideas he looks forward to implementing such as partnering with other organizations and entities in the region whose initiatives align.
“We will work together to create a synergy and have some positive results and do some great things,” he said.
Taillon said there are opportunities for both local and external tourism in the region and if you focus on just one aspect, you are probably leaving other opportunities on the table.
“I want to focus on events and attractions everybody can be excited about,” Taillon said.
Previous CEOs have focused on sports tourism, which draws in many people.
“I think we need to make sure we are putting time and effort into all areas. I wouldn’t say we will focus on a particular brand (for the region),” Taillon said.
The hiring of Taillon caps three years of leadership changes at the organization that began with the forced resignation of former President and CEO Speros Batistatos in July 2021 and ended with Dec. 18 resignation of Uran, who in announcing the news said he wanted to “spend more time with family.”
His resignation came one business day after a Dec. 15 executive session where alleged misconduct was listed as the reason. Uran remained on the regular payroll until Dec. 31. The board reached a severance agreement with Uran in January for 16 weeks of pay, prorated from his base salary of $150,000 and $7,000 for insurance. His contract expired Dec. 31, 2025.
Uran did not respond to a request for comment.
Batistatos was severed from his duties in July 2021 and the bureau continued to pay his contract until it expired Dec. 31, 2021. Batistatos sued the SSCVA for wrongful termination and age discrimination. He also has sued Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott and the city of Hammond for allegations of civil conspiracy, defamation and injurious falsehoods. The cases are pending.
Batistatos Friday said Taillon is eminently unqualified.
“I’m personally aware of a list of people who interviewed (for the position) that had substantive hospitality experience who were purposefully and purposely ignored. Their qualifications were 100-fold if not more than his,” Batistatos said.
“Here we have laid naked for all to see political chicanery elevated to an art form. They launched a second search for a second time with an outcome that has already been decided,” Batistatos said.
He questioned the expense of conducting two nationwide searches by two different firms that produced at least one same finalist.
“How many tens of thousands of dollars did they spend to make the decision they already wanted to make…If that was the case, just save the tax money and move on. It’s Kabuki theater,” he said.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott said he was aware Taillon again was seeking the leadership role at the tourism bureau after he was one of two finalists in 2022.
“I think Phil’s perfect for the job,” McDermott said, adding he will be sorry to lose his long-time employee and chief of staff of nearly a decade. “He is perfect for this type of job. He is a natural marketer, a coordinator…”
SSCVA board members voted unanimously to hire Taillon, including both of Hammond’s appointments to the board. He said Hammond is the biggest city in Lake County with the highest assessed value and the most hotels.
“First off, Phil is completely qualified. People paying attention to the largest city in Lake County I think is smart,” McDermott said, adding he was confident Taillon would do a good job paying attention to each community.
“Phil is going to thrive in this role. It sucks I’m going to lose him as my chief of staff. He’s been doing a good job for a long time. When you’re the chief of staff for a big city, there are very few places to jump,” McDermott said.
The mayor said he will be taking his time to find a replacement for Taillon if he fills the position at all.
“I’m just sort of observing everybody and just sort of sitting back. I’m not in a hurry. If I fill it, it will not be right away. I want to listen and try to do the right thing,” he said.