Executive Director, DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation

Administrator, DeKalb County Enterprise Zone

 

 

Mark has thirty plus years of experience in the profession of Economic Development; as a Manager, Director, and Executive Director; at the regional public/private and local municipal level; and in rural and urban communities.

For the past three years prior, Mark was the Executive Director for the Greater Freeport Partnership, where he led a team of professionals in a merged collaboration of the former Northwest Illinois Industrial Development Alliance, Freeport Area Chamber of Commerce, Freeport Main Street and Stephenson County Tourism CVB.

Over a seven-year period prior to the Partnership, Mark headed up the City of Rockford’s Economic Development Division, within the City’s Community and Economic Development Department. He served as Executive Director for Growth Dimensions for Belvidere-Boone County for over eleven-years, where he led the 501 C (6) public/private economic development corporation for the City of Belvidere and Boone County and prior served as the Community and Economic Development Director for the City of Salem.

Mark has extensive experience in the profession of economic development including entrepreneur development, business retention – expansion program management, marketing, lead generation and prospect development, incentive and deal structuring negotiations, downtown redevelopment, enterprise zone administration, tax increment financing and community development.

Mark is highly effective at building relationships within region and statewide organizations, having chaired the Illinois Development Council (IEDA) and the Illinois Enterprise Zone Association (IEZA) and currently serves as 2nd Vice Chair of IEDA and Legislative Chair of the IEZA. Mark is a past recipient of the Illinois Development Council’s Distinguished Economic Developer of the Year Award in 2012.

 

E-mail: williams@dcedc.org
Phone: 815-895-2711 ext. 203 (Office)  Cellular:  (815) 218-1095