Manager or Director of Business Retention & Expansion

Position Title:

Manager/Director of Business Retention & Expansion, Depending on Experience

Position Classification:

Full-Time (FLSA Exempt)

Reports to:

President & Chief Executive Officer

Applications Accepted:

October 6 th to 19 th or Until Position Filled

Location:

200 W. College Ave, Normal, IL 61761

The vision of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council (BNEDC) is to be the leader of a prosperous, resilient regional economy that creates economic opportunity for all. We are a public-private partnership that provides vision for and guides private sector investments in McLean County to grow the local economy, create economic opportunity, and broaden the tax base. We do this as a private sector organization steering private sector development to successful outcomes through leadership, awareness, advice, negotiation, data, and incentives.

Our Core Values are:

• Bold
  :
  We embrace opportunity and think big.
• Nimble
  :
  We adapt quickly to meet the moment.
• Engaged
  :
  We build meaningful long-term relationships.
• Driven
  :
  We pursue excellence in all we do.
• Collaborative
  :
  We achieve success by working together.

If you have a passion for business, relationships, and project management then this is the career for you! The right person for this role is a self-starter who strives for excellence and enjoys process-driven results. You’ll be at the forefront of local economic growth efforts that aim to create economic opportunity for all.

The Manager or Director of Business Retention & Expansion leads strategic efforts to support the growth, success, and long-term sustainability of businesses throughout the region. This role develops and executes comprehensive retention and expansion initiatives, builds strong relationships with existing businesses, identifies opportunities and challenges, and connects companies with resources and partners that support continued investment and job growth.

The position also supports incentive and project/site management, developing and implementing strong processes to ensure program success. Site readiness is a key responsibility for the position to ensure existing sites are ready for development and curating new and/or improved sites. Success in the role requires strong relationship-building, project management, problem-solving, and process-oriented skills, along with a passion for supporting the Bloomington-Normal business community.

• Retention – builds relationships with existing business and collaborates with partners to address barriers to continued success and retention. This includes coordinating business visits, surveys, and other engagement opportunities.
• Expansion – identifies opportunities for existing business expansion and collaborates with partners to support their growth.
• Resources – connects businesses with resources and partners that support their needs.
• Strategy – leads business retention and expansion strategy development.
• Entrepreneurship – leads efforts to develop and support the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Customer Service – provides guidance to businesses seeking to utilize the local enterprise zone.
• Applications – services applications for building materials sales tax exemptions.
• Monitoring and Reporting – monitors and produces reports on local enterprise zone utilization.

• Project Management – manages all aspects of the project management system.
• Site Management – manages all sites utilizing LOIS software including ensuring accuracy, responding to queries, and furthering site readiness.
• Requests for Information (RFIs) – responds to indirect RFIs from the Illinois EDC and direct RFIs from prospective businesses, developers, and site selectors.