Geneva hires economic development director

Geneva has hired Ellen DiVita as its new economic development director.

She shouldn't have much trouble getting used to the area, given that she spent nine years in a similar position for its neighbor to the north, St. Charles.

DiVita's hiring was announced at Monday's city council meeting.

Presently, she is the deputy director of community development for Mount Prospect. Before that, she worked for St. Charles from 1998 to 2005.

Her projects in St. Charles included founding the department. Projects landed during her tenure include the Von Maur department store at Charlestowne Mall, which filled the vacancy left by JCPenney; the Zylstra Harley-Davidson store on Randall Road; and the Meijer and Lowe's stores on Randall.

"I just think the world of Geneva," DiVita said.

Twenty-six people applied for the job, and 10 were interviewed.

DiVita said the opportunity to focus more on economic development attracted her to the job.

"My last job did not have enough of that" aspect to suit her, she said.

In Mount Prospect, she estimated at least 50 percent of her time was spent on administrative duties, including supervising the building commissioner, the environmental health manager and the planning staff.

Her first tasks will be to find out what the community wants and needs, she said, including studying the city's 2017 strategic plan and meeting with people. Her goal is "sustainability" for a community -- not just job creation, but so people can also buy the goods and services they need locally, she said. In a previous post in Woodstock, for example, that meant finding out why the town was growing, but sales tax was stagnant.

"It's different in every town," she said.

DiVita replaces Chris Aiston, who quit in August to become economic development director for Kane County. Aiston worked for Geneva for 11 years.

DiVita is expected to start Jan. 21.