Economic Development Manager

Company Description

About Us
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wabash Valley Power is a not-for-profit electric cooperative and wholesale provider of reliable, affordable electricity to our 21 electric distribution member cooperatives. These cooperatives in turn serve more than 280,000 homes, businesses, and farms in Indiana and Illinois.

As a not-for-profit co-op, we do things a bit differently—and that’s the point. Because we aren’t influenced by shareholders, we make our decisions with our members in mind. That means we value things like teamwork and putting families first. It also means a business model that’s designed for stability and growth. It’s a Deliberately Different approach to the energy industry, and that’s great news for the people who count on us.

What You'll Get
We believe what benefits our employees benefits our company. That’s why we put employees first—your health, your family, and your development. These aren’t just slogans: We offer continuing education, flex time, health benefits, a 401(k) match and pension plan, and much more. Here are just a few of the things that make our company culture unique:

• No Sweat - We offer a wellness program that includes a payroll credit for medical insurance, an on-site fitness center for your convenience and extra vacation days for participating. We’ll even throw in a fitness device reimbursement to keep you on track!
• Flex Time - Our flexible schedule means you can work in your appointments or family events and maintain a comfortable work-life balance.
• Stay in School - We value employees who have a desire to learn, so we provide funds for continuing education. We also offer in-house training and ongoing development through our internal GROW program.
• Keep it Casual - When you work for us, you work in comfort. Blue jeans are the norm in our office, and we make them look good!
• Work Hard, Play Hard - We reward our employees with generous vacation time, to the tune of up to five weeks off a year. Even our new employees receive credit for prior work experience.

Job Description

JOB PURPOSE

This role works closely with member cooperatives, Wabash teams, and external partners to collaboratively pursue and shape large load opportunities such as data centers and advanced manufacturing. It helps align sites, infrastructure, and decision‑making early, defining readiness, surfacing constraints, and coordinating inputs so opportunities advance transparently and responsibly. Serving as a connective point among co-ops, site selectors, developers, and internal teams, the role establishes shared expectations, clear process, and timely communication throughout pursuit and early structuring. The role works in close collaboration with the Community Development arm of the Wabash Economic Development team to strengthen long‑term cooperative relationships and community outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Large Load Pursuit & Early Project Leadership

• Lead early pursuit and pre‑development of large load opportunities through defined internal handoff.
• Maintain a disciplined pipeline and alignment across member co‑ops, internal teams, and leadership.
• Prepare decision‑ready framing for executives, including options, tradeoffs, risks, and timing considerations.

Site Development Strategy & Readiness

• Coordinate site development strategy for greenfield, brownfield, and transmission‑ready sites.
• Help define site “readiness” by aligning infrastructure, permitting, timelines, and partner expectations.

Relationship Management

• Build and manage relationships with site selectors, developers, and intermediaries.
• Serve as a key coordination contact for Central Indiana large cooperatives involved in large load opportunities.

Cross‑Functional Coordination

• Coordinate complex, multi‑year pursuits involving power supply, transmission, legal, finance, regulatory, and communications teams.
• Identify and elevate major constraints early to ensure appropriate governance and decision‑making.

Economic Development Collaboration

• Work closely with the Community Development team to align large load pursuits with local and long‑term community priorities.
• Support shared event and engagement strategies that strengthen Wabash’s large‑load positioning.

Qualifications

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Team player and service-minder professional
• Experience in economic development, site development, large‑scale infrastructure projects, or related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate across multiple internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complexity into clear, decision‑ready information.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Economic development professional credentials such as EDFP (Economic Development Finance Professional) or CEcD (Certified Economic Developer).
• Experience working with electric cooperatives, utilities, or public‑power entities.
• Familiarity with large load projects, site selection, or capital‑intensive, multi‑year developments.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Large load opportunities advance with clarity, alignment, and trust among member cooperatives.
• Sites are positioned realistically and competitively, with risks understood early.
• Strong, durable relationships are maintained with co-ops, communities, and economic development partners.
• Seamless cooperation with Community Development teammates.

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.