Jay Hedges brings extensive experience in the public and private sectors into his new job as Hampshire administrator. (Village of Hampshire photo)

With extensive private and public sector experience, Jay Hedges arrives as Hampshire’s top executive as the community is experiencing residential, commercial and industrial growth.

The village recently hired Hedges as their first village administrator after five years without one and village president Jeff Magnussen and board members are pleased to have someone of Hedges’ caliber.

Hampshire had been operating without an administrator since their last hire left after just one week on the job back in 2015.

“It is quite a long hiring process,” Magnussen said. “We eventually settled on a candidate but some personal issues surfaced and we parted ways after a week.”

After that experience, Magnussen said the village board decided there was no rush to hire a new administrator given the economic climate of Hampshire at the time.

“Things weren’t as busy five years ago as they are these days with all of the commercial and industrial growth that we’re seeing,” he said. “So we decided to save the money and wait.”

Four years later, with industrial and residential development  on the rise, Magnussen figured it was time for another look and the hiring process again last August.

As luck would have it, at that very same time Hedges was taking a sabbatical after retiring from a 30-year career in private manufacturing.

Hedges said he felt a pull to work in public service since he was a child. After graduating with degrees in political science and public administration, he worked as a city manager for eight years, serving three different communities.

He then accepted a position as director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs under Gov. James R. Thompson in the 1980’s.

“Back then…companies from all over the world were coming to America and to Illinois. And that was my job, to recruit them,” he said. “So I visited a lot of factories around the world on behalf of the state of Illinois and just kind of became very intrigued by the manufacturing process.”

Just like that, what Hedges thought would be a two-year hiatus from local government led him deep into the private sector. When he retired 30 years later, Hedges and his family decided to move from Maryland back to Illinois.

“I had some time over the summer when I moved back to Chicago to evaluate really where I wanted to go,” Hedges said. “And I still had that desire that pulled me back to public service.”

After doing some research he concluded that the divisive nature of Chicago politics did not appeal to him. Hedges instead applied for four administrator positions in four very different suburban towns.

After meeting some of the village board members, Hedges said Hampshire quickly became his favorite.

“I chose Hampshire because I felt like this is a community that really wants to grow,” he said “The village board is a young, forward-thinking board and that’s really what closed the deal for me.”

The board started out with 23 applicants and, after whittling them down to three finalists, Magnussen said that Hedges was the obvious choice.

“We took a vote and everyone was unanimous in hiring Mr. Hedges,” he said. “Jay is a fantastic choice.”

Hedges said he was relieved that his primarily private sector background did not set him back as a candidate.

“Having the combination of both is valuable because economic development is a big priority in local government these days,” he said. “Especially communities like Hampshire that are really on the cusp of a lot of growth.”

In his new role, Hedges said he plans to prioritize the approval of several development projects that are still in progress. Beyond that, he said he wants to send the message to potential investors that Hampshire is “open for business.”

“So part of it is being able to manage what we already have but also being able to reach out and look for more prospects and to market the community for economic development prospects,” he said.

Hedges said he believes his experience in the private sector will aid him in bringing more commercial and industrial development to town because of his insight into the decision-making process of corporate leadership.

“I think that’s something that I’ve been able to bring to our economic development commission…just helping them organize and be ready for prospects when they arrive is really important,” he said.

“We want to send the message that it’s easy to do business in Hampshire,” he added.

Another one of the village’s priorities will be to bring a hardware store back to Hampshire.

“We lost our Ace Hardware store about six or seven years ago now and that’s definitely a service we need for our residents,” he said.

This Spring, construction will begin on a new 16,000 ft. strip mall on Illinois Route 72 near the Casey’s gas station, according to Magnussen.

“In a community like Hampshire, it’s really about accomplishing things and building things and moving forward so that’s been very satisfying,” Hedges said. “…I think there are a lot of exciting things in store for Hampshire.”