Economic Development Director

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Job Description

OVERVIEW
The Putnam County Chamber of Commerce is a public/ private, not-for-profit business and economic development organization that supports Putnam County, Florida. The Chamber works to strengthen the region's economy, amplify our story, champion county priorities, empower community leaders and build a vibrant community.
The Economic Development team is responsible for working with businesses to affect their location decisions, with the intent to foster job creation and retention in Putnam County. The team's core metrics are jobs created, average wage, payroll and capital investment.
GENERAL

This job description is intended primarily as an illustration of the type of work to be performed by the Economic Development Director (herein, Director). The Director is a member of the Economic Development Team and reports to the Vice President of Economic Development.

Chamber employees are expected to provide their unique talents and abilities to solve specific problems or to address specific questions outside their job description related either to their team's mission or in support of an organizational goal. They may be asked to participate in a variety of ad-hoc assignments and are expected to be flexible in their work practices and supportive of other team members. The Director is expected to be a critical thinker and contribute relevant input into team performance, technical systems, policies and procedures and conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.

All employees of the Chamber are expected to familiarize themselves with the Employee Manual and to conduct themselves in accordance with its policies and procedures.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director will be responsible for developing one or more specific target clusters, currently Advanced Manufacturing, Aviation / Aerospace and MRO Operations, Warehousing/Distribution/Logistics, and Agribusiness. Within the context of the Chamber’s target clusters, the Director will conduct business development activities, including recruitment of new industry, retention and expansion of existing industry, start-up support and potentially international investment.

Project Management: The Director will develop industry cluster strategy and target markets for business development and utilize JAXUSA Partnership’s research as part of the analysis. Techniques to be deployed will include sales, marketing and targeted outreach, with a focus on closing deals. The Director will be responsible for responding to specific questionnaires or requests for information as presented by clients and is required to record prospect contacts and progress on projects in the team's database in a timely and thorough manner.

Lead Generation: The Director is expected to be proactive and seek opportunities to identify prospects, leads and projects. This may be through leveraging existing relationships in diverse fields such as real estate, legal, engineering, consulting, local industry officials, etc. Lead generation could also come through local/state government officials and by developing relationships with thought leaders or by direct outreach to new companies and site selection consultants. The Senior Director may utilize social networks such as LinkedIn or other means, in concert with the Chamber’s marketing team.

Hosting Prospects: The Director will share responsibilities with the VP, Economic Development for conducting real estate and other community tours on behalf of visiting clients. This will include evaluating the client's needs as they relate to community assets, exposing the client to the assets that have the greatest potential for success and introducing them to community leaders (public and private) that may be of benefit. The Director will be responsible for planning and participating in certain, industry-specific trade shows and conferences. Trade shows and conferences may be conducted concurrently with targeted sales missions and/or in collaboration with economic development partners.

Partner Relations: The Director will seek to develop and nurture relationships with regional and statewide leaders in economic development. The Director will also develop and maintain professional relationships within state and local agencies including other economic development staff, permitting officials, real estate brokers, financial institutions, educational institutions, employment agencies and professional business associations for the purpose of facilitating business location and growth.

Confidentiality: The Director is always expected to maintain confidentiality and trade secrets of the Chamber and its clients. The Director will be responsible for protecting information relevant to projects pursuant to the client's request and all provisions of Florida's statutes.

Work Plan and Strategy: The  Director is responsible for the implementation of an individual work plan pursuant to the operational plan of the Chamber and will assist leadership in the development of this individual work plan; including the respective industry sector plan(s), as well as the Economic Development Team's section of the operational plan and related budgets. This includes an emphasis on strategy to provide the best chance for influencing client decisions and leading to business growth.

QUALIFICATIONS:

-Required college degree in a related field
-Require two (2) years of related professional experience
-Possess strong organizational, sales and customer service skills with a proven ability to develop relationships and negotiate deals
-Possess outstanding verbal and written communication skills and experience presenting to groups
-Self-starter that is comfortable in a team environment
-Has reliable transportation
-Microsoft Office Suite skills required
- Work independently and as an integral part of a team in a fast-paced ever-changing environment


TO APPLY: Send Resume & Cover Letter to mark@chamberpc.com