Greater Chicago Area
I have extensive experience in local government administration. My career began in the interdisciplinary field of economic development. I have worked on complex redevelopment projects, downtown and riverfront revitalization, and business retention and attraction efforts. I have developed policy and created new programs. I also have sought opportunities to broaden my skill sets. I have participated in labor relations, addressed neighborhood revitalization with a partner community development corporation and have gained experience in historic preservation and the Main Street concept of community building.
In this role, I will focus on attracting new businesses and development as well as assisting existing businesses with their growth plans.
During my tenure in Montgomery, I attracted a local developer to a Village-owned property. I negotiated a letter of intent to purchase the property and then alerted them to an adjacent property making for a larger project. This will be downtown's first mixed-use project that will offer first floor commercial and residential above. I negotiated an amendment to a redevelopment agreement. The project had stalled due to a soft commercial market. I negotiated terms to strengthen the Village's position while providing additional development options for the developer. I engaged the Bricton Group to conduct a hospitality feasibility study to determine if Montgomery could support a hotel anchored development adjacent to the Stuart Sports Complex. We engaged various stakeholders to determine hotel generators. It was determined that given the current economic environment, there would be a large financing gap to address. I negotiated a sales tax rebate sharing agreement with Walgreens. Walgreens had identified one of its Montgomery locations might close during its restructuring process. I negotiated a multi-year annual rebate providing that Walgreens kept all three Montgomery locations open for the next five years. I revised and streamlined the Montgomery Development Fund incentive programs. The programs now provide more flexibility for the applicants as well as provide additional protections for Montgomery.
Over a two year period, guided a complex mixed-use high density project through the entitlement and incentive processes. Reviewed multiple iterations of project proformas. Negotiated the redevelopment agreement with the developer and negotiated intergovernmental agreements with the two school districts. Issued TIF revenue bonds as part of the financing package. Made several presentations at Village Board meetings. The zoning changes and redevelopment agreement were approved. The developer closed on all of the properties September 30, 2021. Negotiated a purchase agreement for Village-owned property. Over several months, negotiated the terms of the purchase with the developer. Updated the Village Board in two executive sessions regarding the negotiations. With the Village attorney, prepared the documents for Village Board consideration. Result: Range USA, a $4.5 million commercial development, was constructed on a vacant, underutilized parcel on Villa Park’s North Avenue commercial corridor. Created a redevelopment incentive program. After discussing potential redevelopment opportunities with several property owners within a Villa Park historic business district, identified a need for an assistance program to address issues adapting older buildings. Created a reimbursement-based incentive program to rehab vacant space for commercial use. Proposed the new program during the 2020 budget process. Result: Three projects were completed in 2020 with a total investment of $200,000.
Led Carpentersville’s community branding initiative. After selecting Business Districts, Inc., created a project task force comprised of partner organizations. Organized individual stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and the distribution of the online survey to gather insight for the future brand. The brand and logo were presented to the Village Board. Result: The Board approved the components to implement the brand and social media strategy which will include a standalone brand website, brand videos, promotional items, and an increased, active presence on various social media platforms. Negotiated redevelopment agreements with property owners and developers. Met with representatives for the former Rosati’s site, Brix on the Fox, OTTO Tech center, and Trim-Rite to discuss their proposals. Explained Carpentersville’s incentive programs. Created project pro formas to determine the return on investment and the appropriate level of assistance. Negotiated the incentive packages with the developers. Drafted redevelopment agreements and sales tax sharing agreements and presented to the Village Board. Result: Reinvestment and job creation have occurred along Carpentersville’s retail corridors and in its industrial parks. After multiple staff departures, led the redesign of the municipal website. Reconstituted the website review team. Reestablished a timeline and action items with the website designer, CivicPlus. Led the website review team through various design discussions and approval phases. Met with Village departments to discuss the procedures for the content migration. Result: Carpentersville’s dated website was replaced with a more user friendly and search engine optimized website in March 2019.
Invest Aurora (formerly Seize The Future Development Foundation) is the City of Aurora's economic development organization. Invest Aurora is the public/private partnership which retains, attracts, and promotes commercial, industrial, retail and mixed-use development in Aurora, IL. Created Invest Aurora’s business retention and attraction programs. Implemented a two pronged retention program. Met with businesses individually and with businesses in group settings to discuss issues and Aurora’s business environment. Attracted businesses by developing relationships with brokers and owners through membership in trade groups. Attended tradeshows. Result: Sixty three individual visits and nine business forums were conducted that identified workforce issues and the under utilization of the city’s fiber network. Addressed workforce development issues. In response to the feedback from the retention visits, created a committee of local workforce organizations to respond to the business community’s needs. The committee coordinated the workforce resources and streamlined the response of the various organizations. Result: The committee created the Aurora Works website, a one-stop web portal for workforce resources in Aurora.