Homewood officials announced Friday, March 17, that the village has hired Angela Mesaros as director of economic development. She starts work on Monday, March 20.
Homewood officials announced Friday, March 17, that the village has hired Angela Mesaros as director of economic development. She starts work on Monday, March 20.
Mesaros comes to Homewood from La Grange, where she led a large number of projects in a 15-year term as assistant community development director and planner.
“Our call for applicants for the economic development director position yielded a pool of excellent candidates,” Village Manager Jim Marino said. “However, Angela’s experience in downtown and transit-oriented development projects (TOD), as well as her distinct vision for Homewood, set her apart and clearly made her the right person for the job.”
Homewood has been actively seeking TOD projects for more than a year, and one project ― to develop a mixed-use property in the 2000 block of Ridge Road ― is in its early stages.
While working in La Grange, Mesaros engaged in a series of initiatives. She facilitated the public process for mixed-use developments, including a 254-unit apartment building, commercial projects and new public infrastructure.
She updated the La Grange land use codes to accommodate new approaches to technology, teardowns, infill development and signage. She also contributed to marketing programs in La Grange.
“I am honored by the invitation from Homewood to become its next economic development director,” said Mesaros. “Homewood has a well-deserved reputation as a top suburb and I look forward to getting to work with its residents, businesses and community partners to promote smart planning and business development.”
Mesaros is a certified planner from the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). She earned a master of urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001 and a master of theological studies from Garrett-Evangelical in Evanston in 1999.
She is filling a position previously held by Tom Vander Woude, who resigned in January.