Member-only story
If you were to ask me what I do, say at a cocktail party, social gathering, or business event, I would summarize my extremely challenging, stressful, and occasionally rewarding position by telling you that “I am the economic development guy for a mid-sized Chicago suburb.”
If you are already aware of all that entails, kudos to you! But I would bet that most folks do not really know what, exactly, that means. So if your eyes glaze over a bit and you nod and say “uh-huh” while contemplating your next meal or social media feed, I understand.
I, myself, was not quite sure of what that title entailed until I completed my first day of serving as a paid economic developer nearly twenty-one years ago. Furthermore, that particular position was only skimming the very top of what real, down-and-dirty boots-on-the-ground economic developers like me actually do since that was working for one of the most politicized, unprofessional, and bureaucratic organizations ever created — Cook County.
In my position, one minute I may be managing an engineering project, the next working on marketing plans or assisting an entrepreneur in finding a location downtown. My responsibilities cover a wide spectrum of duties from project management to policy development and implementation, to marketing, tourism, business retention, recruitment, and expansion. I rarely…
