An employee in this position performs administrative, technical, and professional work to prepare, implement, and maintain City economic development plans, programs, and services. This individual is responsible for developing and executing strategies to retain and expand businesses in Gulf Shores and attract new investment to the city. This includes duties such as interfacing with, and marketing to, businesses and other stakeholders or organizations in the community, promoting the City to prospective businesses and organizations, and maintaining a favorable business development climate.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: 
 

• In partnership with the Economic Development and Public Affairs Director, develop and execute measurable strategies for effectively landing new and expanding businesses in Gulf Shores and meaningfully spurring job and tax base growth, consistent with the Economic Development Strategy.
• Manages business outreach through identifying business issues and concerns and connecting business leaders to services to support their needs.        
• Analyzes business market trends to identify opportunities to catalyze business investment in Gulf Shores. 
• Assists in preparing the annual budget and recommendations for the Economic Development Department. Monitor expenditures and revenues to ensure compliance with approved budgets. 
• Attends various meetings, industry events, and conferences for local chambers of commerce and other civic or business organizations as necessary.
• Partners with the Economic Development and Public Affairs Director with regards to business investment in Gulf Shores through contact with business leaders and senior management of business organizations and regional economic development partners. 
• Works closely with planning and zoning staff on projects relating to real estate development.
• Serves as a strategic business advocate for companies ranging from start-ups to small-to-midsize businesses to large employers, actively engaging in problem solving when barriers arise to business investments.
• Provides guidance to businesses on navigating city regulatory processes, obtaining funding (private and public), searching for real estate, accessing hiring, and training resources, and making connections with potential business partners.
• Works with regional partners to provide assistance to businesses. 
• Facilitates meetings for city leaders with businesses, developers, and investors.
• Collaborates with other department leaders on ways to improve city processes, policies and regulations related to doing business in Gulf Shores
• Develops and maintains a database of available commercial properties, industrial buildings and sites, critical information desired by development prospects such as economic data, demographic data, permit tracking and other information necessary for economic development trends and evaluations.
• Maintains a deep understanding all the economic development incentive offerings available at the state and local levels.
• Facilitates marketing and activities that support economic development including maintaining website updates as needed and other marketing tools such as social media platforms.
• Provides recommendations for business development initiatives by performing market analysis and valuation of potential business partners; identifies and recommends appropriate corporate recruitment and expansion solutions; develops and recommends tactics; coordinates with both external and internal stakeholders to bring projects to fruition.
• Serves as a liaison with other departments/agencies such as Planning and Zoning, Building, Utilities, and other departments as appropriate to facilitate and coordinate economic development opportunities. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:
 

• A bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, public administration, or a related field.
• Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in economic development work. 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:
 

• Principles, procedures, and strategies of economic and community development and analysis in a government environment, planning and zoning, demographics, economic trends, forecasts, impacts, and related principles and procedures.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with others; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and in different situations; shows understanding, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness.
• Ability to write and speak effectively, using conventions proper to the situation; ability to state own opinions clearly and concisely and demonstrate openness and honesty; ability to listen well during meetings and feedback sessions and explain reasoning behind own opinions; ability to exercise a professional approach with others using all appropriate tools of communication; uses consideration and tact when offering opinions.
• Experience working cooperatively with others, inside and outside the organization, to accomplish objectives to build and maintain mutually beneficial partnerships, leverage information, and achieve results.
• Experience exercising good judgment by making sound and well-informed decisions; ability to perceive the impact and implications of decisions; ability to make effective and timely decisions, even when data are limited, or solutions produce unpleasant consequences.
• Able to manage multiple projects; able to determine project urgency in a practical way; uses goals to guide actions; creates detailed action plans; organizes and schedules people and tasks effectively.
• Broad understanding of state laws and municipal ordinances and policies which relate to economic development.
• Knowledge of modern research methods, principles, and procedures of economic development as well as understanding of statistical and financial analyses and presentation.