An economic development leader who in four years helped attract more than 2,600 jobs to St. Joseph, Mo., will become Lawrence’s top economic development official.

Lynn Parman, vice president of business development for the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce, will begin work July 8 as the Lawrence chamber’s vice president of economic development.

Lynn Parman, left, is the new vice president of economic development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. She visited with Lawrence Mayor Sue Hack Friday.

At an announcement ceremony Friday, Parman told 25 business and community leaders she would work to “add value” to the community’s economy by working to add new employers to the community and helping existing companies expand.

“Lawrence has a lot of underemployed people and I think that represents a real opportunity for us,” Parman said. “That looks to me to be the type of situation where we should be able to attract a significant number of high-skilled careers to Lawrence and Douglas County.”

Some of Parman’s biggest successes in St. Joseph, however, were in helping existing businesses expand. She led a team that helped convince officials with St. Joseph’s Sara Lee production facility to remain in town. The project saved 155 jobs in St. Joseph and added another 350 jobs.

Parman, who declined to give her age, also worked with city officials to create a new “business ombudsman” position in city hall designed to help businesses “cut through red tape.”

“I think it is very important that communities create an environment that is conducive to existing businesses to expand and grow,” she said.

Parman was chosen from about 125 people who applied for the position after the chamber conducted a nationwide search. She replaces Debi Moore, who resigned in February for health reasons.

Chamber President Bill Sepic said the search committee was impressed with Parman’s track record in St. Joseph, and that she has been involved in the Kansas City metro area’s Life Sciences Initiative, which many believe has the potential to create bio-tech jobs in Lawrence.

“I’m pleased we were able to find someone from this region,” Sepic said. “I think it may give us an advantage that she is from Missouri too because that is the state we probably compete the most with. She knows all their tricks.”

Parman was hired as St. Joseph’s vice president of business development in 1998. During her tenure, she attracted $465 million in new business investment. Before accepting the position in St. Joseph, the Southwest Missouri State University graduate served as city administrator for Buckner, a town of 3,000 in western Missouri.