CHAMPAIGN — Gary Burgett has been elected chairman of the Champaign County Economic Development Corp.'s board of directors for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Burgett, the president of Smith/Burgett Architects in Urbana, will succeed Brendan McGinty.

Other officers elected Thursday for the 2011-12 year are Laura Frerichs, vice chairwoman, and Chris Shroyer, treasurer.

Frerichs is associate director of the University of Illinois Research Park, and Shroyer is president of Busey Bank.

The corporation's board of directors also approved seven new board members:

— Dennis Gordon, plant manager of Kraft Foods in Champaign. He succeeds Paul Tatman.

— Laura Berg, recruiting manager at Wolfram Research in Champaign. She succeeds Barry Suits.

— Betty Brennan, president and owner of Taylor Studios in Rantoul. She succeeds Rusty Ernst.

— Jon Schroeder, a farmer from the Sadorus area who serves on the Champaign County Board. He succeeds Gregg Knott.

— Vic White, superintendent of the Prairieview-Ogden school district. He succeeds Arthur Culver.

— Rick Manner, executive director of the Urbana & Champaign Sanitary District. He succeeds Mike Little.

— Jill Guth, director of development at JSM Development in Champaign. Her seat had been open. Guth is familiar with the organization, having served as its executive director from 2000 to 2004.

The board on Thursday approved a $586,850 budget that includes $350,000 in expenses for core economic development functions, $208,250 for the Small Business Development Center and $29,500 for the Urbana-Champaign Angel Network.

The city of Champaign has trimmed its annual contribution to the EDC by nearly $20,000 for one year as part of a budget-balancing effort.

The EDC plans to cover that by spending down its fund balance by a like amount, said John Dimit, the agency's chief executive officer.