Jennifer joined OHM in late 2021 after 15 years as a chief administrative officer, department head, and municipal planner and 18 years as a municipal consultant in Michigan and Florida. She now plays a unique role with OHM Advisors as a cross-discipline project manager. Jennifer uses her municipal management and planning background to assist multiple teams and their associated client communities, while also serving as the principal in charge for two Jackson County municipalities. Her focus has been water and sewer related due to extensive prior knowledge. She also provides funding assistance for parks and other municipal assets.
In Jennifer’s most recent role, she served as the director of neighborhood and economic operations for the City of Jackson. During her tenure, the City of Jackson became the state’s benchmark for redevelopment readiness. Additionally, she helped to realize greater than $100 million in private investments; streamlined the development review process to incentivize redevelopment; and received the Daniel Burnham Award for a Master Plan from the Michigan Association of Planning.
In her role as the village manager for Brooklyn, Michigan, her responsibilities were all-encompassing, with an emphasis on budgeting, project funding and grants, and human resources. Key accomplishments included the funding, design, and construction oversight of a new Department of Public Works garage, a self-sufficient sewer operations and maintenance program for six neighboring communities, the negotiation of a reimbursement agreement for payback of the Clean Michigan Initiative Brownfield Redevelopment Loan, and the negotiation and administration of a historically accurate rehabilitation of the exterior of the Village Hall.
Q: Why do you work in community advancement?
I enjoy assisting communities to become more financial sustainable while improving their aging infrastructure. I seek opportunities to enhance municipal functionality through streamlined processes and identifying economic development opportunities. These are the key reasons why I work for a company focused on community advancement and why teaming with the Michigan Municipal League and Public Sector Consultants through MI Funding Hub further enhances what we already achieve on our own.
Q: What is one thing you wish communities seeking funding knew?
Don’t just make it a one-time task. Funding opportunities are made available throughout the year. Having a community-vetted plan in place and a continual feedback mechanism makes the grant process much easier and compliance more achievable.
NOTE: Site search does not include grant search. See Find Funding page for grant searching.