PEORIA — When Chris Setti takes over as CEO of the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council this week, he'll be moving just three city blocks from his previous post.
For the past 13 years, Setti has worked out of Peoria City Hall, most recently as assistant city manager in charge of economic development for the city. The EDC offices recently moved into the Carriage House beside the Judge Jacob Gale House, 403 NE Jefferson Ave., the new home for the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce.
Setti, 44, will keep on the economic development track, only this time focusing on a five-county region in central Illinois rather than just the city of Peoria.
He's taking over the EDC job on a wave of momentum from last week's announcement that OSF HealthCare — with the help of Caterpillar Inc. — was taking over the development of a Downtown city block. It's the same block that Caterpillar abandoned last year when the company elected to move its headquarters to a Chicago suburb.
The shadow cast by that headquarters relocation certainly doesn't make it easier to talk up business possibilities in Peoria, a town now labeled as the former home of Caterpillar.
But Setti has no misconceptions about challenges his new position will present. After all, he's no stranger to conflict — he's been working in Peoria city government for more than a dozen years.
Along with that conflict, there also have been accomplishments. Setti recalled the success of the city's Warehouse District, stating that one of the most important aspects of the project was obtaining the $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant in 2010 that allowed for road and streetscape improvements that laid the groundwork for the development of older buildings to follow.
Setti also helped work on getting the Bloomberg grant that led to the creation of the Innovation Team at City Hall in 2015. He also pointed to other Downtown developments that he's played a part in: the Obed & Isaacs microbrewery, the Marquette Apartments and the thirty-thirty Coffee Co.
"One of the projects that's often overlooked is the work we did on shifting animal control from the city to the county," he said, referring to the transfer that occurred in 2010.
There have been high-visibility projects, as well: forming the Renaissance Park Community Association to work on redeveloping Main Street, the Louisville Slugger sports complex and, most recently — and not without controversy — the bringing of Portillo's to Peoria.
Setti also served as liaison to the Downtown Development Commission, where he received that group's accolades at their meeting last week.
"I don't think anyone realizes how hard this guy works," said commission chairman Mark Misselhorn.
Sometimes that work ethic has almost tripped Setti up. He served as the city's point man on the River Trail Apartments issue, a development issue that's stalled as the city and National Park Service wrangle over the disposition of parkland in the project.
Chuck Grayeb, the 2nd District City Councilman, suggested that, while he was doing a good job, Setti was spending too much time on the River Trail project.
As EDC head, Setti won't have to interpret federal edicts on parkland to City Council members anymore. It's a whole new ballgame now with an even larger group of overseers: officials in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Logan and Mason counties.
Yet Setti feels he's up to the task of negotiation and conflict resolution that's involved with economic development. "If it was easy, you wouldn't need government," he said.
Steve Tarter covers city and county government for the Journal Star. He can be reached at 686-3260 or starter@pjstar.com. Follow him at Twitter@SteveTarter and facebook.com/tartersource.