Heartland Partnership changes name in restructuring; EDC splits off
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- Published on Monday, 03 June 2013 17:27
- Written by Paul Gordon
More major changes at the Heartland Partnership and Economic Development Council of Central Illinois were announced Monday, including that the two no longer are connected and that the Partnership has a new name.
The restructuring, which has been coming for many months since the departure of former CEO Jim McConoughey, will result in a smaller organization now known as the Greater Peoria Business Alliance. It will consist of just two entities — the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and the CEO Council — instead of half a dozen. The CEO Council was formerly known as the CEO Roundtable.
The Economic Development Council of Central Illinois is now a separate entity and will be governed by the new group called Focus Forward CI, which will seat a new EDC board and CEO. For the time being the EDC will be housed in the riverfront offices of the Greater Peoria Business Alliance and will contract with it for administrative services, said Renee Charles, director of public affairs and media relations for the Alliance.
Focus Forward CI plans to name a new EDC board of directors in July and then will undertake the business of finding a new CEO, said Jim Baumgartner, chairman of Focus Forward CI. It is likely that board will hire a search firm that specializes in finding economic development professionals and he said he anticipates the new CEO will come from outside the region.
Baumgartner said the EDC action committee of Focus Forward CI has determined it wants a staff of six, including the CEO. "We hope we'll have the entire team in place by the end of October," he said.
The name change to Greater Peoria Business Alliance and reduction in affiliates isn't where the restructuring ends, said Charles.
A key change, she added, is that the Business Alliance will focus solely on the private sector and have no government involvement or funding. It will have a new board of directors with equal representation from the Chamber of Commerce and CEO Council, with the chairmanship alternating between the two annually.
The inaugural chairman of the Greater Peoria Business Alliance Board of Directors will be Brent Eichelberger, president of Commerce Bank who is currently chairman of the Peoria Chamber board. Next year, the CEO Council chairman will serve as chairman of the Greater Peoria Business Alliance. Current CEO Council chairman is Paul DiGiallonardo, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
Cal McKay, who became interim Heartland Partnership CEO after McConoughey left, agreed to stay on permanently and is the CEO of the Greater Peoria Business Alliance.
McCay noted the previous structure of the Heartland Partnership included several affiliates and the handling of a vast array of economic and community development issues. "Today we have two organizations that make up the Greater Peoria Business Alliance; the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and the CEO Council. This change in structure allows us to focus more specifically on the needs of private business and the regional business climate," he said.
The two organizations will operate under a shared services model and the Greater Peoria Business Alliance will act as a back office holding company.
The CEO Council is a dues paying group made up of more than 60 regional business leaders who work on initiatives to enhance the regional business climate. MacKay said the group will focus on the regional business climate. "The first regional initiatives we'll be working on are the downtown Peoria revitalization/warehouse district, identifying regional education and workforce gaps, and producing the 2014 Regional Economic Scorecard," he said.
McKay said the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, which has been around for 102 years and has more than 1,000 regional business members, will continue to be the leading voice of business in the region and will focus on the day-to-day needs of its members. "The chamber is focused on providing political advocacy, being inclusive and diverse, promoting the improvement of the region's quality of place and being a source for strong leadership development," he said.
Peoria NEXT, the organization charged with helping start-up companies get off the ground, has also become a separate entity, still headed by Grant Brewen, Charles said. The Heartland Foundation will come under the CEO Council, she added.
MacKay said the Heartland Partnership built a reputation as a go-to source on regional issues and it will still provide that information for media and other interested parties.
"People from inside and outside our region know they can come to this organization for answers about the business climate, local economy, community development, regional trends and much more. If we don't have the answer, they know we will connect them with the proper parties to get it. We will continue to share this type information along with regional ratings and rankings the only difference is, it will now come from the CEO Council and/or the Peoria Chamber," he said.
He expects the Greater Peoria Business Alliance's new website will launch soon and staff email addresses will change. The office remains at 100 SW Water Street in downtown Peoria and the contact phone number remains (309) 495-5900.
Baumgartner said it's not known where the Economic Development Council will ultimately end up or whether it will keepits current name. Focus Forward CI will steer the EDC activities until the new team is in place and Sally Hanley, the lone holdover development specialist from the previous EDC organization, will work with his group.
Baumgartner said he couldn't speak for the new EDC board, since it has not yet been seated, as to what it will be looking for in a new CEO. "But I think I can ssure you we first and foremost will be looking for an experience economic development professional with a proven track record, a record of success that can be verified," he said.
