VEDC Names 2nd Interim President in 2 Months

The Valley Economic Development Center has appointed a new interim president--its second in as many months--as the agency continues trying to rebuild itself following a management shake-up this summer.

Roberto Barragan, a 39-year-old Princeton-educated banker, has been named interim president, replacing Wilma Berglund, who was installed in early August.

State officials did not want Berglund to be both chief of the agency and run the agency’s state-funded small-business centers, said Marvin Selter, acting chairman of the VEDC’s board.

Berglund could not be reached for comment, but Barragan said she had chosen to retain her permanent position and resigned the interim post Sept. 3.

Barragan said he expects to be interim chief until at least January, when the agency begins its search for a permanent president.

He said a top priority includes rebuilding the group’s board of directors, which has been decimated by resignations since spring.

“There’s a lot we need to do,” he said Thursday. “It’s going to take us a few months to restructure this organization and revise our strategic planning. Basically, my job is to help clean things up.”

Problems for the Van Nuys-based VEDC began last spring after two staff members took commissions for helping a Japanese businessman invest in a Canoga Park sign company.

One of those earning commissions was longtime President John Rooney, who helped guide the VEDC out of obscurity and won the nonprofit group national acclaim. The VEDC’s board was bitterly divided over the commission issue and some members called for Rooney’s resignation.

In mid-July several board members, including Chairman David Honda, quit, saying they were fed up with the in-fighting at the agency. A series of resignations beginning last spring left half the seats on the 17-member board vacant.

In late July, Rooney decided to step down and last month the city of Los Angeles launched a comprehensive audit of the VEDC.