Economic Development

Mayor Reeves Taps Certified Economic Developer to Lead Pensacola’s Growth Strategy

Steven M. Baham II brings dual national credentials, state agency experience and a track record of landing multimillion-dollar investments to City Hall.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves has named Steven M. Baham II, CEcD, EDFP, as the city’s new Economic Development Director. Baham comes to Pensacola from Citrus County, Florida, where he served as that county’s Economic Development Director—a role in which he built new incentive frameworks, secured multimillion-dollar grant funding, and launched strategic initiatives to sharpen the community’s competitiveness for private investment, all in under two years on the job.

Baham holds two of the field’s most rigorous national credentials: the Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) designation and the Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification.

Before his time in Citrus County, Baham built his career at Louisiana Economic Development, the state’s lead economic development agency. That tenure gave him hands-on experience in business expansion and retention, incentive administration, financial oversight, and statewide economic strategy—working on projects that produced significant capital investment and job creation across Louisiana.

What He Brings to Pensacola

Baham’s skill set spans the full economic development lifecycle:

• Business recruitment and retention—working across sectors to attract new investment while keeping existing employers rooted and growing
• Incentive structuring and financial oversight—designing and administering performance-based programs that align public dollars with measurable outcomes
• Grant administration—with a proven record of securing competitive public funding at the county and state level
• Executive advisement and board reporting—providing policy-level counsel to elected officials and government leadership on economic strategy
• Public-private partnership coordination—convening business, government, and regional partners around shared growth priorities

Background and Credentials

A Louisiana native, Baham earned a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Southeastern Louisiana University. He currently holds leadership and advisory positions with several professional organizations, including the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council, CareerSource Citrus Levy Marion, and SelectFlorida’s Gateways Advisory Council.

Baham steps into a role that sits at the center of Mayor Reeves’ agenda to strengthen Pensacola’s tax base, attract new employers and support infrastructure-ready development. He fills the big shoes of Erica Grancagnolo, who guided the city’s efforts to land American Magic at the Port of Pensacola, negotiated the acquisition of the old Baptist campus and handled the expansion of ST Engineering at the Pensacola International Airport. Grancagnolo resigned in January.