Project Manager/Shale-Energy Specialist – OhioSE

Position Title: Project Manager/Shale-Energy Specialist
Reports To: OhioSE Vice President
Location: Logan, Ohio or Pre-Approved Remote in the OhioSE Region
Schedule: Full-time
Compensation: Exempt/salaried position with competitive compensation based on qualifications
Deadline: Applications accepted until December 8, 2023, or until position is filled

Company Overview:
The Appalachian Partnership (API) is a private, nonprofit corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention, and capital support. One of API’s subsidiary companies, OhioSE, is a non-profit 501(c)(3).
OhioSE contracts with Ohio’s lead economic development organization, JobsOhio, to serve as the JobsOhio network partner in 25 counties of southern and eastern Ohio. By being the outreach of JobsOhio in southern and eastern Ohio, OhioSE plays a leading role in economic
development and serves as a catalyst to accelerate growth by helping Ohio’s businesses in JobsOhio targeted industry sectors expand and attracting new companies to the state.

Position Description
We are seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as the eastern Ohio project manager and shale energy specialist. The project manager’s overarching goal is to represent the OhioSE 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.

This position will serve on the OhioSE team, which is a non-profit subsidiary of the Appalachian Partnership, Inc., and the regional partner for JobsOhio, Ohio’s private economic development leader. OhioSE is a lean and nimble non‐profit organization with a small central office and remotely based field staff working across a very large region. We are looking for an independent, self‐starter who can learn as they go with minimal supervision. Good communication skills and a team‐player attitude are needed. A commitment to improving the quality of life in
southeastern Ohio and an attitude of continuous improvement are also keys to success.

Ability to travel throughout the region and to Columbus, Ohio, is essential to this position.

Expected Duties
 Proactively plan and execute an aggressive Business Retention & Expansion visitation program in the appropriate sub-region. Targets should be developed and approached in cooperation with local economic development organization (LEDO) professionals when possible. When not possible, the PM will need to proceed independently and try to loop the LEDO when possible.
 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, JobsOhio and local incentives.
 Present projects for approval of incentives.
 Assist in the execution of contracts.
 Manage business development and lead generation activities and key relationships tied to shale energy and petrochemicals, including trade shows, events, shale related BREs (some of which may be out of the eastern Ohio subregion).
 Become highly knowledgeable of the shale, energy and petrochemical industrial markets.
 Assist the OhioSE Sites Team during site visits, site presentations and OSIP projects when the Sites Team is beyond its capacity.
 Assist local development partners’ access site development resources of JobsOhio.
 Establish, maintain, and grow relationships with a variety of stakeholders including local and regional economic development leaders, business CEO’s, executives and owners, JobsOhio project managers, governmental leaders, and other vital partners.
 Complete all performance reports, timesheets, expenses on time and as required
 Act with integrity and honesty in all dealings, actions, and conversations

Education Requirements
 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 may be given for previous related/relevant experience in lieu of a degree.

Position Specific Qualifications:
 Position posted externally and open to existing OhioSE employees
 A minimum of five years of related experience required
 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.
 Ability, willingness, and skills to be very effective at navigating the incentives approval process and effective advocate for projects in the OhioSE region
 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. Familiarity 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 60% of work time with occasional overnight stays required.
 Must have valid driver’s license.

Method of Response: Please submit a cover letter, resume describing relevant skills and professional experience, and contact information for at least three relevant academic or professional references to jdunnington@apppart.org. Applications will be accepted until December 8, 2023, or until the position is filled, whichever is later. No phone inquiries, please.

API is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, familial status, or veteran status.

*Project is when a company has a job creation and or capital investment opportunity in which Ohio is in competition.