After 26 years at the helm, President of the Naperville Development Partnership (NDP) Christine Jeffries is retiring.
The longtime Naperville resident is responsible for filling millions of square feet of retail, industrial, and office space in the city. The NDP is a public and private economic organization that promotes business interests in Naperville.
“We’ve always had a policy of ‘We’ve got a great product, if you sell a great product and good service, people will come back,’” said Jeffries. “I don’t care if you’re a restaurant, a shoe store, or anything else. And our board of directors and our city staff and city council have always known how to sell it.”
Jeffries and the NDP have aimed to fill vacant storefronts, refresh old areas, and keep city tax rates low.
“75% for residential, 25% commercial, really builds a sustainable community so that the residents aren’t picking up the tab solely for all the roads, schools, and city services,” said Jeffries.
Jeffries’ team has brought businesses like Apple and Mall of India to the Naperville community.
“It’s just really a collaboration of all of the board members, our experience, what we see out in the world that we think would be a good add to Naperville and our economy,” said NDP Chairman Mark Wright. “We look at things from south Naperville to old Naperville. We want the whole community to do well. And so it’s about how do we bring those businesses in the region.”
Christine Jeffries’ impact on Naperville
Before arriving in Naperville, Jeffries worked as the Director of Economic Development for the City of Geneva.
In 1997, Hal Wilde was searching for a president for the Naperville Development Partnership, and he saw something special in Jeffries.
“They invited her to speak about her role and how she saw development,” said Wilde. “She talked, and when she got all done, as I was walking out, I just said to Mike Skarr and everyone else, ‘We should hire her right now.’ And we did. I consider that one of the greatest gifts to the city that I love. Getting Christine Jeffries in a position where she could navigate and negotiate the tricky boundaries of city government, community developers, funders.”
Over the past 30 years, Jeffries was named Most Influential Woman in DuPage County and the Distinguished Economic Developer of the Year. She also served as the President of the Illinois Development Council.
East Ogden corridor and Route 59
She received those awards for leading several business developments in the city, such as the East Ogden corridor and the Block 59 project.
“East Ogden was a really big deal because (of) the former Kmart,” said Jeffries. “A lot of people kept saying, ‘Just put something in there.’ So the city started making small investments in the East Ogden Avenue. Things like (a) new streetscape, enhanced lighting fixtures, painting the electrical boxes. They are transformational. When you start to make some investment, it catches on and people start to look at it differently.”
Eventually, two high-profile grocery stores landed in the corridor.
“The Ogden corridor was something that Christine spearheaded, trying to get that whole area developed with the Costco, the Amazon Fresh,” said Wright. “She’s just been involved in everything major. All the car dealerships on Ogden, getting the new test track for the car dealerships, all spearheaded by Christine.”
Wright called Jeffries an “irreplaceable” asset for the city.
“She loves the community,” said Wright. “I mean no one loves Naperville more than Christine Jeffries. So I think it’s the combination of her ability to connect with people and then on top of the vast amount of knowledge that she has about economic development as a whole.”
Jeffries’ relationship with city officials
Jeffries and the NDP have worked with each Naperville mayor and city council to bring new businesses to the area.
Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli previously served as a chairman of the NDP for two years. One of his favorite experiences with the organization came before a pitch meeting with Jeffries.
“I’ll never forget driving to one of those meetings,” said Wehrli. “I was real excited and I asked Christine in the car, ‘Well, what are we going to put on the table? What are we going to have to offer?’ She says, ‘You got to sell them on Naperville. We’re offering a city where their employees want to be, where they’re going to be proud to have an address. Once we cross the finish line, they will know they made the right choice.”
Future plans for Jeffries
After leaving her post, Jeffries plans to move to Florida with her husband Bill. But she’ll never stop telling Napervillians to “shop local.”
“My hopes for Naperville (are) that we keep that corridor really vibrant, the research and development corridor, our downtown,” said Jeffries. “I always say shop local. If you can spend your money local, it actually goes straight to your bottom line.”
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