Vice President of Economic Development

Location

Des Moines, IA | United States

Job description

The Vice President of Economic Development serves as the primary point of contact for business development projects. The VP's primary responsibilities include proactively attracting new projects into the Greater Des Moines region through national and international business recruitment; meets with site selection consultants, corporate real estate executives, national real estate developers, local company headquarter executives, and prospective companies in the region's industry clusters to promote the area's business advantages.

The position leads and coordinates all aspects of the recruitment process including marketing trip planning & implementation, site and building selection assistance, and financial incentive identification. The position is also responsible for maintaining a database which tracks the organizations' progress toward economic development goals. Additional responsibilities include: maintaining a strong working relationship with state and local partners, leading special initiatives and other duties as assigned. This position will travel up to 50% of the year, including throughout the 11-county region, throughout the nation and international travel as needed.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Drive business recruitment efforts, economic development project marketing/sales, prospect visits and site selector visits.
• Heavy sales focus to fill funnel with project leads through proactive relationship-building throughout the region, state, national and globe.
• Leads recruitment trips to identified major metropolitan areas to promote Greater Des Moines (DSM) business advantages.
• Develops and implements data-driven lead generation activities (virtual and in-person). Examples: Sales Navigator, Gazelle, Leadfeeder, etc.
• Identifies, plans, executes and attends trade show marketing trips.
• Leads and coordinates prospect visits.
• Serves as a point of contact in the Greater Des Moines region for business executives to access information on local business expansions, new business locations, or business relocations.
• Serves as a liaison between business executives and state & local officials to address business development issues.
• Represents The Partnership and DSM USA region throughout 11-counties and around the world.
• Develops and gives presentations on the advantages of doing business in DSM.
• Works with internal communications team on framing the DSM marketing message and key points, as well as identification of prospects, marketing targets and opportunities.
• Understands and can articulate high-level information regarding state, local and federal economic development programs. Develops and maintains a network of business contacts to identify expansion opportunities and assist with the external headquarters visitation program.
• Maintains personal working relationships with state and local economic development representatives, city managers, mayors, local brokers and developers.
• Documents and prepares information for SVP of Economic Development as needed.
• Leads special projects and initiatives as identified.
• Other duties as assigned.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS

• Bachelors degree in Business, Public Administration, Urban Planning & Development, or other business related field. Extensive experience in economic development is required.
• Continued education in economic development courses or business training courses.
• 5-10 years minimum experience in related field.
• Must be proficient in written and oral communication skills. Must be computer literate. Must be comfortable with public speaking engagements .

Job tags

Salary