The Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau board has hired a full-time executive director to run the agency responsible for increasing tourism in the area, board chairman Nelda Sampey said Monday.

Compass of Vicksburg will be phased out as part of the surprise deal, not discussed in any board meeting. It was not known if or when any board vote was taken.

William &#8220Bill” Seratt, director for 11 years of the Greenville-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, will take on the position to head the agency that has been marked by split board votes, high staff turnover and controversy.

The top job became vacant after the spring 2005 death of Emy Wilkinson, who was executive director for a year.

Tourism officials feel Seratt is the answer to closing the door on discord.

&#8220Vicksburg is back on track, and Bill is in charge,” said Larry Gawronski, executive director for Compass of Vicksburg, a subsidiary of Compass Facility Management, which was hired a year ago as a management consultant for the agency. &#8220I think Vicksburg has hit a grand-slam home run with hiring him.”

Seratt, 56, brings 30 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. He is a founding member and president of the Mississippi Delta Tourism Association, a group formed to promote the Delta region. He is also on the board of directors for the Mississippi Tourism Agency and was named the agency’s 2007 Executive Director of the Year.

&#8220I have worked with him for 15 to 20 years,” said VCVB board member Patty Cappaert. &#8220I think he will bring so much enthusiasm to the Visitors bureau. He will be such an asset to our community.”

Seratt said he is &#8220absolutely delighted” to help promote Vicksburg. The starting date for the Delta native and University of Memphis graduate is May 1.

&#8220I absolutely love Vicksburg. It’s such a tremendous tourism product,” he said. &#8220I can’t wait to get down there and learn more about the market and talk to the stakeholders. … I want to get as much done as quickly as possible. I can’t wait to get out and tell the world about Vicksburg, Mississippi.”

Hiring Seratt comes on the heels of 18 months of conflict over how the agency would be managed.

After seven months of searching for a person to lead the VCVB in 2005, the board halted that process and narrowly voted to hire Compass to take over day-to-day operations under a 45-day temporary contract, later extended to two years.

It was not known if Seratt was among the pool of dozens of earlier applicants. Indications are he was approached recently and asked to apply for the post.

The move to employ Compass was seen as a way to bring promotion and operation of the city-owned Vicksburg Convention Center and the tourism support and development role of VCVB, created by the Legislature in 1972 as a city-county agency, under one umbrella.

On March 8, with a push from Mayor Laurence Leyens and members of the tourism industry, the board, on a 5-3 margin, voted to enter a two-year management contract with Compass, which had operated the convention center for four years. Compass, which also manages Vicksburg Auditorium also extended its contract with the city until 2011.

Instead of naming an executive director, the board opted to contract tourism-development to Compass and the firm was directed to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy, which the board voted to accept.

A the time, Tim Darden, as chairman of the VCVB board, said the position of executive director would remain vacant for the duration of the two-year deal with Compass, which has one more year of its contract to fulfill.

A news release from the VCVB announcing Seratt has been hired indicated Compass will gradually be phased out.

&#8220One of our long-term goals was to assist the bureau in identifying potential candidates,” Gawronski said. &#8220That was one of our top things – to help the board find the strongest executive director.”

This past August, the board hired four people for full-time positions at the bureau, increasing what was, for several months, a skeleton crew.

The board did not say how much it will pay Seratt, whose salary will come from the 1 percent local tourism tax that funds the VCVB’s $1 million budget. The past two directors who held the post were paid $65,000 a year.

The VCVB operates welcome centers on Clay Street across from the Vicksburg National Military Park and downtown at Washington and Clay streets. Most of its budget is spent on regional advertising, brochures and staff.

Its staff is overseen by an 11-member volunteer board. Five are appointed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, five are named by the Warren County Board of Supervisors and one is a city-county appointment.