JobsOhio Regional Project Manager

Organization:  Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG)

Location:  Negotiable within Southeastern Ohio.  Employee will more than likely be home-based.   Position coordinates through central office in Nelsonville, Ohio.

Experience:  5+ years

Education:  Bachelor’s Degree required

Reports To:  APEG Vice President

Salary:  Based on qualifications and performance

Deadline:  Applications will be accepted until May 1, 2018, or until the position is filled, whichever is later

Organization Overview:
Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG) is a private, non-profit subsidiary of the Appalachian Partnership Inc., which serves as the JobsOhio Network partner for 25 counties in Appalachian Ohio.  APEG works with JobsOhio’s community and regional partners to retain and attract jobs and regional investment and build the economy of the region.  APEG focuses on strategic industry sectors in areas of statewide and regional strength, as well as areas of emerging opportunity.  Using a regional approach and regional resources, APEG works efficiently to spur employment, facilitate promising regional opportunities and strengthen civic infrastructure to develop a sustainable approach to economic vitality

Job Description:
APEG is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve in the capacity of Project Manager.  The individual will act on behalf of APEG and JobsOhio to assist in the creation, retention, expansion and attraction of companies in a 25 county region of Ohio, with the goal of closing deals that secure new capital investment and jobs in Ohio with a positive return on investment.

Project Managers will be responsible for managing all aspects of regional deals, including:

• Identify growing companies and industries and potential projects
• Define project needs with participating companies
• Identify and connect key resources, assets and alliances
• Identify and package appropriate state and local incentives
• Present projects for approval of incentives
• Assist in the execution of contracts
• Assist and train local economic development partners in the region to document available properties for upload into ZoomProspector, JobsOhio’s prospect database to make certain all necessary data fields are complete, accurate and up to date.
• Assist the APEG Site Coordinator in site search activities as needed, including completion and review of Requests For Information (RFIs) and review of sites and buildings for compliance with search parameters and the gathering of information related to both.

Project Manager must be a team player and will be responsible for building and maintaining positive working relationships with a variety of partners to identify, facilitate and oversee deal opportunities and support the growth of business in the region.  Critical partners include:

• Local and regional economic development leaders
• Business CEO’s, executives and owners
• JobsOhio project managers
• Local, regional, state and federal government leaders with an interest in or resources to support development including:
• Vital supportive partners such as the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio; TechGrowth Ohio and the Voinovich School, Rural Action, business incubators, Small Business Development Centers and venture capital networks.

Project Manager will present projects before various approval bodies and help companies through various application processes.  They will prepare briefings for the JobsOhio staff, the APEG president and staff to use when speaking to press, company officials, community presentations and others and will represent these leaders in public capacity for speeches and other presentations as needed.

Depending upon the skills, experience and location of the chosen applicant, the Project Manager may be assigned a geographic territory.  The Project Manager may also be assigned to projects or tasks in other counties that would benefit from his/her specific expertise or to balance workload.  The Project Manager will also work with other elements of the larger APEG strategy to cultivate emerging opportunities in the region and support civic investment and infrastructure to further support sustainable economic vitality in the region.

Position Specific Qualifications:

• A minimum of five years of related experience required.
• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field is required.  Related fields include but are not limited to Economic Development, Regional Planning, Business, and Marketing.
• Consideration to pursue the CEcD designation from the International Economic Development Council
• Exceptional sales, negotiation and project management skills demonstrated in a work environment, along with strong interpersonal skills and experience dealing with many types of people at all business levels required.
• Excellent English writing, grammar and proofreading skills required.
• Demonstrated successful public speaking experience as well as listening skills required.
• Self-starter with the ability to generate, identify and develop business investment leads and demonstrated ability and drive to exceed customer service expectations are preferred.
• Understanding of key factors supporting business investment decisions preferred.
• Working knowledge of economic development financing preferred.
• Subject matter knowledge or experience in an industrial sector strongly represented in Appalachian Ohio (e.g., energy, manufacturing, forestry, extraction) preferred.
• Computer proficiency with Microsoft Office applications required.  Experience with Salesforce is a plus.
• Excellent time management skills; ability to deal with constantly changing work demands; proven ability to organize and prioritize multiple tasks simultaneously required.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion required.
• Ability to travel within Appalachian Ohio up to 50% of work time with occasional overnight stays required.  Must have valid driver’s license.

Method of Response:  Please submit a cover letter, resume and contact information for at least three relevant professional references to cbrainard@apeg.com.  Applications will be accepted until May 1, 2018 or until the position is filled, whichever is later.  No phone inquiries please.

APEG is an Equal Opportunity Employer