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News
Oswego hires new development director : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOswego hires new development director
| by Matt Schury
| 1/24/2013
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The Oswego Village Board voted to approve Village President Brian LeClercq's appointment of Vijay Gadde as the village's economic development director Tuesday night in a unanimous ballot.
Gadde's annual salary was set at $93,000, and he is expected to begin work Feb. 8.
Gadde will succeed Tony Lucenko who resigned Oct. 1. Lucenko was the village's first economic development director who left after just 14 months.
Gadde was at the board meeting but did not speak to the board.
He has been the planning manager with Village of Lake Zurich in Lake County since 1999.
Steve Jones, village administrator, said Gadde has been involved in retail and industrial economic development along with general planning.
Jones said Gadde was selected from a pool of 30 candidates.
The village had two rounds of interviews and skills assessments during which Jones said Gadde stood out from the rest.
Conducting the first round of interviews were Steve Hatcher, president and CEO of the Oswego Chamber of Commerce, Terry Michels, a village board member, and Rod Zenner, the village's planning building and zoning director.
From that first round three candidates were recommended to Jones and LeClercq.
"Vijay was my number one choice," Jones said. "He certainly showed a connection to the real estate and brokerage network with the Chicago area, which is very important because with the desire to expand business you need to know who to call if you are looking at a Ralph's Grocery or a Trader Joes."
Jones said that Lake Zurich has a lot of similarities to Oswego. He added that the village hopes to attract industrial and commercial developers, which will ultimately lead to job creation.
LeClercq pointed out that Gadde put together a detailed PowerPoint presentation on an economic development grant for the village.
"Here you are interviewing for a position that you and may or not get and I believe that this person put in a substantial amount of time and effort in putting forward a plan," LeClercq said.
Jones added that Gadde was doing a lot of preparation while visiting India over the holidays.
Hatcher welcomed Gadde and said it was a great choice.
"I was fortunate enough ... to work on your interview committee appointee and Vijay was far and beyond out top pick," Hatcher told the board. "I think you've done an excellent job. I guess I represented the business community and that's a fresh idea-we like that."
Hiring Gadde, LeClercq maintained, shows the village's commitment to continuing it's own economic development department.
Prior to June of 2011, the Oswego Economic Development Corporation (OEDC), a public-private organization that was funded through annual dues paid by the village, other local governmental agencies and local businesses, handled economic development efforts for the village.
The OEDC was established by a prior village board in the mid-1990s with the support of local businesses. The village's annual dues payment to the OEDC was $85,000.
The OEDC folded after the village withdrew its financial support and membership to the agency.
Prior to voting to withdraw its membership in the OEDC, board members cited problems with a lack of accountability concerning the agency's finances and activities. A board comprised of representatives from the village, other participating local governmental agencies and business partners set policy and oversaw the agency's operations.
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