Brand USA CEO James Evans will step down after just one year in office, it was announced Thursday. The year-old organization's board has begun the search for Evans' replacement.
"As I reflect on the accomplishments of the last year, I am gratified in how much progress we have made," said Evans. "I know I leave Brand USA with a great foundation and a strong team that will take the organization forward."
Caroline Beteta, the CEO of Visit California and Brand USA's chairman-elect, will assume responsibility as interim CEO effective immediately. "We thank Jim for the time, energy and passion he has brought to establishing this enterprise," says Beteta. "Brand USA has hit critical milestones in its development and now is at an important transition point. Our focus going forward is to build on the momentum the organization has established by increasing and deepening our partnerships with the travel industry, building out co-op marketing opportunities to attract increased private-sector funding, and enhancing our responsiveness and communications with our government partners."
Evans' departure comes just a week after six Republican senators wrote a letter to then-Commerce Secretary John Bryson questioning Brand USA's spending in London last November, when the World Travel Market was held. (Bryson has since resigned for health reasons.) The letter alleges that the Corporation's spending on Brand USA's launch party at London's National Maritime Museum was not "fully transparent," and that Brand USA's co-located board meeting was not sufficient reason for the entire executive team to make the jaunt to London. The senators have requested documentation of spending related to the London jaunt as well as details on Brand USA executives' compensation and benefits. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina published the full text of the letter
on his blog.
Brand USA maintains that Evans' departure "comes as the organization pivots from a start-up endeavor to a fully functioning marketing organization.
The National Journal has published
a letter from Beteta that states that board members paid their own way to London and details Brand USA's plans to provide the information the senators have requested.
"The Brand USA board has never accepted reimbursement of any kind for any travel or other expense," the letter states. "In fact, we have directed millions of dollars in contributions from our organizations to Brand USA even as our duties as volunteer directors took us ever farther from our day jobs. We are proud of the time and resources we have contributed because Brand USA is a cause the travel industry believes in."