Advocacy and Economic Development Specialist
ABOUT ICNC
ICNC is a non-profit organization that works to strengthen the companies in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor on Chicago's Near West Side. In addition to representing and providing assistance to hundreds of companies in its community, ICNC owns and operates Make City, a small business incubator which houses 100 small business tenants in its 416,000 square foot facility.
ICNC also co-owns the Hatchery, a food and beverage manufacturing incubator in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood which assists food & beverage entrepreneurs grow their businesses. This facility is a one-stop-shop aiming to solve three major challenges in the industry: access to production space, financing, and resources.
Please visit http://www.industrialcouncil.com and http://www.thehatcherychicago.org for information on ICNC's mission and activities.
POSITION DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The Advocacy & Economic Development Specialist is responsible for locating, curating, and disseminating economic development and market information to assist ICNC to understand modern urban industrial firms and Chicago’s West Side. This is a full-time position and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer.
Economic Development
· Lead economic development initiatives
Advocacy
QUALIFICATIONS
WORKING CONDITIONS
Office environment, but much time to be spent in face-to-face/virtual meetings, involving local travel. ICNC will provide a computer and workspace along with access to all software and systems needed for in-office and remote work. A technology reimbursement will be provided.
POSITION STRUCTURE & BENEFITS INCENTIVES
TO APPLY
Please email current resume to:
Please email letter of interest, current resume, and three professional references to:
ICNC
Advocacy and Economic Development Specialist Search Committee
[email protected]
The subject line must include the recruiting code AED
ICNC is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for its team, the businesses it supports, and ultimately the communities in which it works
ICNC is a non-profit organization that works to strengthen the companies in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor on Chicago's Near West Side. In addition to representing and providing assistance to hundreds of companies in its community, ICNC owns and operates Make City, a small business incubator which houses 100 small business tenants in its 416,000 square foot facility.
ICNC also co-owns the Hatchery, a food and beverage manufacturing incubator in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood which assists food & beverage entrepreneurs grow their businesses. This facility is a one-stop-shop aiming to solve three major challenges in the industry: access to production space, financing, and resources.
Please visit http://www.industrialcouncil.com and http://www.thehatcherychicago.org for information on ICNC's mission and activities.
POSITION DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The Advocacy & Economic Development Specialist is responsible for locating, curating, and disseminating economic development and market information to assist ICNC to understand modern urban industrial firms and Chicago’s West Side. This is a full-time position and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer.
Economic Development
· Lead economic development initiatives
- Manage city contracts, including the Local Industrial Retention Initiative, TIF programs, and other support services to our entrepreneurial community
- Develop strategies to comply with policy changes and share with the entrepreneurial community
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with policy makers and stakeholders
- Work closely with incubation graduates and offsite members to navigate licensing and permitting, incentive programs and applications, and general interactions with city departments
- Work closely with programming team to develop training around new policy implementation
- Support organization-wide events
- Maintain record of local industrial real estate listings and market them to relocating members or graduating businesses from one of ICNC’s incubators
- Identify opportunities for incubator development, including expansion, improvements, and funding
- Participates in the West Side Outreach Team, creating and implementing outreach strategies
- Maintains calendar of outreach activities, including community events, workshops, appearances, and other communication opportunities
Advocacy
- Guide ICNC public policy positions to best organize them around the entrepreneurial community and advocate for items that positively impact them
- Regularly review policies and procedures of ICNC programs and departments to best advocate for the entrepreneurial community
- Monitor development and policy issues that impact ICNC’s entrepreneurial community
- Assess zoning changes, neighborhood plans, transit initiatives, and other proposals to engage in relevant items for ICNC
- Develop an organizational response plan for issues that affect ICNC’s entrepreneurial community
- Cross-train on ICNC’s own zoning, licensing, permitting, incentive plans, and applications with city departments, and act as leader in these processes in absence of the Administrative Manager
- Conduct regular interviews and surveys to collect data and enhance advocacy efforts
- Other related duties as assigned
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in related field (urban planning, economic or business development)
- Experience in such areas as community organizing, manufacturing, public policy and land use
- Comfortable interacting with city government and public speaking
- High energy, outgoing, and a passion for ICNC’s mission is essential
- Strong communication, research, and marketing skills mandatory
- Active listener who can relate well with all types of people, builds rapport, constructive and effective relationships
- Able to maintain strong, positive, collaborative working relationships
- Willing to travel and use personal vehicle as necessary for work-related activities –mileage expenses are reimbursable
- Excellent time management and strong organizational skills
- Able to work in a fast-paced environment to meet established goals and deadlines
- Skilled coordinating a variety of projects simultaneously
- Experience with public data outlets (US Census, Legistar, Chicago Data Portal, etc), design software, and mapping software (GIS, Google Earth) a plus
WORKING CONDITIONS
Office environment, but much time to be spent in face-to-face/virtual meetings, involving local travel. ICNC will provide a computer and workspace along with access to all software and systems needed for in-office and remote work. A technology reimbursement will be provided.
POSITION STRUCTURE & BENEFITS INCENTIVES
- This is a full-time, salaried exempt position; Monday-Friday, work schedule can vary; with the ability to work remote up to 40% of work week after initial training/orientation period
- Occasional evening and weekend work required for activities such as special events, seminars, or trade shows, with advance notice given
- Starting annual salary range is $52,942-$59,513; commensurate with experience;
- Benefit incentives include: one week paid vacation to start, one week personal/sick time off and twelve paid holidays, participation in group health insurance plan, simple IRA match, short and long term disability, life insurance, tuition reimbursement, professional development training, flexible spending accounts and employee assistance program
- This position is eligible to participate in ICNC’s Great Game of Business growth incentive bonus plan
TO APPLY
Please email current resume to:
Please email letter of interest, current resume, and three professional references to:
ICNC
Advocacy and Economic Development Specialist Search Committee
[email protected]
The subject line must include the recruiting code AED
ICNC is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for its team, the businesses it supports, and ultimately the communities in which it works