Gov. Angus King, looking for the ideal, possibly nonexistent candidate to head the Department of Economic and Community Development, can find an answer within his cabinet and circle of advisers using the team and consensus-building approach that is his trademark.

The November election raised expectations in Maine for deliverance from four years of recession, and progress toward an economy that is more diverse, more rewarding for a greater number of workers and less confined by Maine’s geography.

Mainers have felt stuck. The governor’s secret, “Maine is on the move,” revealed theatrically in his inaugural address, imparted an essential sense of motion. King seized the initiative, overcame spiritual intertia, and now is obliged to accelerate the momentum with the right choice for DECD.

But this governor also has emphasized that he is not bound by the past. Conventional systems that have served the state, but which may be the wrong mechanisms for the future, can be discarded. Gov. King believes Maine must rely on what works.

The current structure of DECD, which invests expectation and responsibility for performance in a single individual, not only may be unreasonable, but it also discourages the state from bringing all of its resources to bear on what now is a global challenge to attract investment, trade and jobs to Maine.

The ideal candidate for the DECD job, the entrepreneur-for-all-seasons who will satisfy the governor’s important constituencies, would be a successful Republican businessman who knows Maine intimately and has domestic and international business contacts.

Democrats and Republicans agree that in addition to accepting a huge pay cut, someone with those credentials would be too busy making money to take the DECD job on a full-time basis. The governor also should ask himself if Maine would gain or lose by taking such a dynamic player out of the private-sector loop.

Gov. King needs a leader and a solid manager in DECD, but if he expects to win in the international competition, he must field the best team he can assemble, ready to go on short notice, to capitalize on opportunity.

A suggestion:

Retain current Commissioner Michael Aube to run the department. As commissioner, Aube performed well in a job that is difficult under average circumstances. Conditions during his tenure were abysmal.

Maine went through four years of structural recession. The economy stalled. Entire industries throttled back, many permanently. Loring Air Force Base closed and thousands of defense-related jobs disappeared. Aube, by far the best person to hold DECD’s top job in more than a decade, was persistent and creative through this period.

He has been instrumental on defense conversion. He knows the people in the domestic and international markets, which he has worked as an effective ambassador for Maine in Europe and Japan. He brings continuity and a stabilizing influence both to Maine and its clients. He knows the geography of economic development inside the state and out.

Assemble a team of experienced, successful business people to work as an active adjunct to the department. Using the resources of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Alliance, the Maine Development Foundation and other organizations, identify a core group of entrepreneurs who would have impact in taking Maine’s message to prospects. For flexibility, and added punch, support the core with specialized groups of business people who know specific turf and who understand the subtleties of their industry.

Heavy industry, telecommunications, bio-engineering — the basic sales pitch doesn’t change — but the emphasis does. Maine not only is on the move, but it can deliver, with representatives of Bath Iron Works or Bowater, NYNEX and the University of Maine System, Jackson Lab and the utilities that provide energy.

Maine needs the right person at the top in DECD. It already has one, the governor, who has promised to be Maine’s leading advocate for economic growth and job creation. It has another, in Aube, a solid administrator.

But there are other, collectively even more potent resources scattered across Maine in large and small businesses: the people successfully creating jobs in this state’s economy. Put them to work for Maine part time. Assemble them in a rapid-deployment force, ready to take the gospel of Maine development opportunities wherever investors need to be convinced.

Do they question that “Maine is on the move”? Take it to them, governor.