ONE Lorain County

Job Opening: ONE Lorain County Director

Are you an experienced business leader with a knack for entrepreneurship? Do you want to make a difference in your community by leading an economic development initiative? Look no further! The Lorain County Community Development Corporation (dba ONE Lorain County, Opportunities for a New Economy) is seeking a dynamic individual to grow and lead a new economic development collaborative for Lorain County.

As the Director, you will have the autonomy to plan, organize, and manage economic development programs and services that will help local companies expand their businesses and attract new companies to Lorain County. You will also be responsible for developing resources and services to support workforce initiatives and site development, while working closely with local, regional, and state economic development entities.

This is not your typical 9-to-5 job. You will have the opportunity to work with a new board of directors, a dedicated funding stream, and a well-planned program of work based on a yearlong community outreach effort in collaboration with the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce. The outcome of this outreach was positive from our local and regional economic development providers, elected officials, business leaders, educational and workforce entities, and philanthropic organizations.

In this role, you will report directly to the Chairman and CEO of the ONE Lorain County Board and Executive Committee and work collaboratively with the full ONE Lorain County Board of Trustees to implement a new strategic plan that includes business attraction, retention and expansion, workforce development, site development, and engaging the economically disenfranchised residents of Lorain County.

ONE Lorain County will provide you with the opportunity to showcase your leadership skills and execute complex projects. You will work with a small team of professionals and subject matter experts to design and implement regional labor market solutions. You will be responsible for selecting, contracting with, and overseeing work of consultants as appropriate (e.g., data management, grant-writing, etc.). You will also identify capacity gaps and create hiring plans that acknowledge and plan for possible organizational growth and shrinking.

In addition to being a respected, neutral convener among a broad spectrum of local stakeholders, you will also have the chance to build and maintain relationships with community partners, coordinate research and other activities with ONE Lorain County partners to align strategies and actions, and update outreach strategy as new needs and opportunities emerge.

ONE Lorain County will offer you a competitive compensation and benefit package commensurate with your qualifications and experience. If you’re ready to take on this exciting and challenging role, please email us your cover letter, resume, salary history, and reference list to include three professional references. Join us in making Opportunities for a New Economy in Lorain County! Send inquiries to agallo@loraincountychamber.com

ONE Lorain County Director

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s Degree required.

• Minimum 5 years work experience in business and/or economic development, workforce development or community development, with an emphasis on sales and marketing, human resources, business recruitment, financing, real estate development, retention and expansion, and administrative responsibilities.

• Familiarity with workforce development challenges, with a focus on recruitment, hiring and retention of qualified employees.

• Supervisory experience leading a small team.

• Knowledge of project management fundamentals and experience managing complex projects.

• Experience with a startup environment is preferred.

• Experience and comfort communicating and presenting to business leaders and electedofficials.

• In addition, the preferred candidate will have demonstrated a strong track record of leadership and executing business transactions and public incentive negotiations which resulted in creating and retaining jobs, and growing capital investment and payroll as part of their work in previous positions.

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT:

• Build the ONE Lorain County identity as a respected, neutral convener among a broad spectrum of local stakeholders.

• Cultivate excellent working relationships with senior business, education and community leaders involved in this initiative in a way that can inspire collective action.

• Ensure effective facilitation of all Advisory Board & stakeholder meetings and provide regular reports on group progress against goals and indicators.

• Help identify and recruit additional cross-sector stakeholders to participate in the initiative through the development of Work Groups (committees utilized to achieve regional workforce development goals).

LEADERSHIP:

• Developing systems to share organizational decisions with the collaborative’s Advisory Board, staff members and other stakeholders.

• Integrate and collaborate with subject matter experts to design and implement regional labor market solutions.

• Selecting, contracting with, and overseeing work of consultants as appropriate (e.g., data management, grant-writing, etc.).

• Establishing, facilitating, and executing effective and open communication with staff, particularly related to internal decisions and strategy.

• Identifying capacity gaps and creating hiring plans that acknowledge and plan for possible organizational growth and shrinking.

• Coordinate professional development for the Advisory Board, and Work Groups to ensure they are informed and prepared to make decisions.

COMMUNICATIONS:

• Communicating the objectives of ONE Lorain County to the community and potential partners.

• Creating or managing creation of quarterly and yearly summary progress reports for the Advisory Board, Work Groups, and external audiences.

FUND DEVELOPMENT:

• Continued evaluation of the revenue model while identifying and securing potential new funding streams to support ONE Lorain County goals and priorities

• Writing grants, as needed, or overseeing work of grant-writer.

• Overseeing grant reporting to funders as needed.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS:

• Building and maintaining relationships with community partners.

• Coordinating research and other activities with ONE Lorain County partners to minimize redundancies and to align strategies and actions, including conducting individual outreach and education as needed.

• Coordinating with other projects and coalitions in the same field to maintain a full understanding of the current landscape of local, regional, and state workforce activities and integrating such work into the ONE Lorain County as appropriate.

• Updating outreach strategy as new needs and opportunities emerge.