When David W. Hixson leaves his post as executive director of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority this month, he won't be going too far from the embattled project at Penn Square.

Hixson, 42, will still live in Manheim Township with his wife and four sons; he'll also be available to answer questions his successor might ask about the $170-million hotel and convention center.

But Hixson will remove himself from the relentless swirl of the public/private partnership as he becomes the chief operating officer of The Cope Co. SALT at 549 W. Roseville Road.

The Manheim Township company is a multimillion-dollar niche operation that delivers salt in different forms to farm operations, food processors and for water-softening systems in schools, hospitals and other large industries.

New challenge
Ben Cope, founder and owner of the enterprise, holds patents on a number of salt-delivery systems. His flagship product is Cope AutoBrine System, a unique underground storage container that holds tons of salt and can be automatically refilled from a tanker-truck, much the way oil is delivered. The salt cleans the filters used in water-softening units.

Cope, 64, is a plumber by trade, and he's also Hixson's neighbor. Over the years, the men have discussed myriad personal and business issues over the backyard fence.

A proverbial self-made man, Cope said he's watched his young neighbor mature in many ways, especially over the past several years. "Dave is down-to-earth," Cope said. "He's got common sense."

Cope said he recognized Hixson as the man who would help take his business to the next level. The regional company is making forays into the national and international market with AutoBrine. It also is developing a storage-and-delivery system for residential use.

"I want to teach [Hixson] everything there is to know about this business," said Cope, who adds he is a believer in teamwork.

The salt company employs 15 people, including sales associates and delivery people.

Hixson said he's excited about his new job. It will be a challenge to learn about the niche industry, he said. "This is a solid company with a developed product," he said. "It already has a winning team in place."

Looking back
Hixson said he won't miss the stress of being the Convention Center Authority executive director, especially the personal attacks by project opponents, but he does feel nostalgic about his involvement in the mission over the past four years.

"I will miss working with the community partners," he said. "I will miss being involved in taking something from concept to reality."

The hotel/convention center is a joint project between the county and Penn Square Partners, owner of the 300-room Marriott, which will rise from behind the restored facade of the Watt & Shand building.

Penn Square Partners, a limited partnership, consists of general partners Penn Square General Corp., a High Industries affiliate, and Penn Square Ltd. LLC, an affiliate of Lancaster Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Sunday News, Lancaster New Era and Intelligencer Journal.

The project financing is a mix of state grants and loans, public construction bonds, local hotel excise and room taxes, and private funding.

In the making for nearly 10 years, the project was fraught with opposition, including a three-year lawsuit by 11 local hotel owners and operators who opposed the hotel room and excise taxes enacted in 2000 to fund the project.

A state appeals court ruled against the hoteliers just as Hixson came on board in summer 2003. He was fresh out of his state government job as an executive assistant in the Department of Labor & Industry.

He also had served as deputy press secretary for Gov. Mark Schweiker. Previous to that, he had been a legislative aide to Congressman Tom Ridge of Erie, who became governor of Pennsylvania. Hixson was working for then-Lt. Gov. Schweiker when Ridge was appointed the nation's first chief of homeland security immediately after Sept. 11, 2001.

Hixson was hired, said board members at the time, to help improve the project's public image.

When Hixson began the job in July 2003, project developers and government leaders believed the worst was behind them.

But county Commissioners Dick Shellenberger and Molly Henderson and private citizens opposed to the project threw wrenches into the works with more lawsuits, a new feasibility study, and government resolutions aimed at killing the project financing.

Shellenberger and Henderson are waiting for a decision to be handed down by the state Commonwealth Court regarding the legality of a 2003 county guaranty for a $40-million bond being used to finance construction of the convention center.

The commissioners also replaced board members who favored the project with those who voiced dissatisfaction with the authority and money issues, including millions of dollars spent in consultant and legal fees.

Time to move on
Hixson said once the financing was approved last spring, the role of the authority and the executive director began to shift. When Cope made his offer, Hixson was ready to accept.

"I leave the job with a sense of pride in the accomplishments, but also with some sense of relief," Hixson said Thursday, as he sat in the salt company's headquarters.

He said he's looking forward to spending more time with his family, including coaching Little League with his sons, ages 3 to 12.

Hixson said the most important lesson he learned during his tenure at the authority is "I can't control everything."

He said his darkest day was March 16, 2005, the day after the Lancaster School District board rejected a tax deal on the privately owned hotel. The deal was created to help fill a gap in the project's funding.

"I awoke the next day to a divided community, and I had no idea about the direction of the project," he said. "It hurt."

But the project claimed another one of its nine lives and was rejuvenated with new promises of funding and community support.

"I had a conviction and a belief in this project, and my job was to drive it forward," he said.

Hixson said he thinks a significant turning point in the project came when the authority and Penn Square Partners agreed to move ahead with construction drawings in summer 2004.

"A public/private partnership is a tough relationship," he said.

Hixson's last day with the authority is Aug. 25. He said he's committed to "sprint to the finish."

That includes keeping his hand in during the transitional period as the board takes on the task of searching for and hiring a new executive director.

"There is still a lot going on," he said. "I have always believed in the project."

---

Judy A. Strausbaugh is a political writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached at 291-8689 or jstrausbaugh@lnpnews.com.