Economic Vitality & Business Relations Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

The Downtown Spokane Partnership is seeking an Economic Vitality & Business Relations Specialist who enjoys building relationships, helping businesses solve problems, and turning information into practical action.

You will serve as a primary connection between DSP and downtown businesses, entrepreneurs, property owners, and community partners. Your work will help existing businesses remain and grow downtown, connect prospective businesses with opportunities, and keep DSP informed about conditions throughout the district.

Reporting to the President & CEO, this position combines regular business visits with research, relationship management, and program coordination.

What You’ll Do

• Support business success. Conduct proactive business visits, identify challenges and growth opportunities, and connect businesses with permitting, licensing, financing, workforce, and business-planning resources.
• Follow through on business needs. Track assistance requests, coordinate referrals, document outcomes, and bring unresolved concerns and retention risks to the appropriate DSP staff.
• Build downtown relationships. Maintain regular contact with businesses, BID ratepayers, property owners, managers, and brokers. Welcome new businesses and introduce them to downtown services and resources.
• Support recruitment and investment. Maintain information about available commercial spaces, respond to prospective business inquiries, and connect entrepreneurs and expanding businesses with spaces, market information, and resource partners.
• Maintain useful business intelligence. Keep accurate business, property, contact, and assistance records. Track openings, closures, relocations, expansions, vacancies, and investment activity.
• Translate information into action. Analyze outreach findings, vacancy information, foot-traffic data, and other indicators; prepare economic vitality updates and draft content for board reporting and marketing materials.
• Strengthen membership engagement. Identify prospective members and support recruitment, onboarding, renewal conversations, and participation. Coordinate with Administrative Services and Policy & External Affairs on records, advocacy engagement, and designated relationships.
• Coordinate business programs. Organize roundtables, resource workshops, and targeted assistance initiatives that respond to business needs.
• Collaborate across DSP. Contribute business stories, content ideas, and promotional outreach to Marketing; coordinate with businesses adjacent to placemaking projects; and help colleagues respond to recurring district concerns.

What We’re Looking For

You are approachable, organized, and comfortable starting conversations with people you have not met. You listen carefully, ask useful questions, and take responsibility for follow-through. You can balance time in the district with accurate records, research, and coordination.

Qualifications include:

• At least two years of relevant experience in business, customer relations, project coordination, or helping people navigate resources. Business ownership and substantial relevant community experience will be considered.
• Ability to build trust and work professionally with business owners, property representatives, public employees, and people with varied backgrounds and perspectives.
• Strong organization, sound judgment, attention to detail, and discretion with confidential information.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain information and recommended next steps.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 and Excel, with the ability to learn CRM and market-information tools.
• Ability to interpret basic business and market information, recognize emerging issues, and communicate findings.
• Ability to work primarily in downtown Spokane, participate in regular district visits in varying weather, and occasionally attend early morning, evening, or weekend meetings.

We welcome candidates with experience in economic or community development, small-business ownership, retail or hospitality management, banking, real estate, membership organizations, public service, and community work. We consider relevant experience, education, training, business ownership, and community involvement together.

Experience with business assistance, membership engagement, public-agency processes, or Spokane’s business community is helpful. Familiarity with CRM systems, business surveys, commercial-space inventories, GIS, or tools such as Placer.ai and CoStar is preferred.

Why DSP Is a Great Place to Work

This position offers the opportunity to work directly with downtown businesses and see the results of your efforts in the community.

DSP’s benefits include:

• 100% employer-paid employee health, vision, and dental insurance.
• 100% employer-paid life insurance.
• Voluntary supplemental life insurance and long-term disability.
• 12 paid holidays annually.
• 80 hours of accrued vacation plus Washington sick leave.
• A 401(k) retirement plan with employer match up to 4%.
• Monthly transportation/parking and technology stipends.
• Performance bonus eligibility.

DSP offers flexible work schedules and occasional remote work options. This position is primarily based in our downtown Spokane office. Some benefits are subject to eligibility requirements and waiting/probationary periods.

About DSP

The Downtown Spokane Partnership is dedicated to a dynamic, vibrant, livable, and sustainable Downtown. As a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization, DSP serves as Spokane’s central city advocate for economic and community vitality. DSP has managed the Downtown Spokane Business Improvement District since 1995, providing supplemental programs and enhanced services across an 80-block area that includes nearly 2,200 property owners and business tenants.

Our core values are Collaborative, Innovative, and Diverse.

Downtown Spokane Partnership is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to inclusion and diversity. DSP recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected statuses as required by applicable law. DSP does not discriminate based on genetic information in its employment-related policies and practices, including coverage under its health benefits program. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. All employees must have permission to work in the U.S.; employment eligibility verification is required.