James C. LaBelle has been named Executive Director of Business Leaders for Transportation, a coalition representing more than 10,000 employers in the Chicago region. Business Leaders for Transportation serves as the collective voice of business
James C. LaBelle has been named Executive Director of Business Leaders for Transportation, a coalition representing more than 10,000 employers in the Chicago region. Business Leaders for Transportation serves as the collective voice of business on strategies to reduce traffic gridlock and improve metropolitan Chicago’s surface transportation network.
LaBelle has extensive experience with state and local government issues and is a member of the General Assembly’s Illinois Growth Task Force. Currently Chairman of the Lake County Board, LaBelle will assume responsibility as chief strategist, spokesperson and coalition manager on a part-time basis during a transition period through the end of the year. He is in the final year of his third term as Chairman of the Lake County Board and has been a member of the Board since 1980. He is not seeking reelection and in 2001 will serve full-time as Executive Director of Business Leaders for Transportation and Senior Advisor with Chicago Metropolis 2020.
Co-led by Chicago Metropolis 2020, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and the Metropolitan Planning Council, Business Leaders for Transportation has a membership of almost 70 businesses and business associations that span the six-county region. Business Leaders for Transportation helped shape Governor Ryan’s Illinois FIRST infrastructure improvement program and recently issued recommendations regarding the Toll Highway Authority, urging the preparation of a comprehensive financial plan that gives priority to upgrading and keeping the existing tollway system in good condition.
LaBelle, 48, of Zion, was one of the first staff members to join Chicago Metropolis 2020, a non-profit organization created last year by The Commercial Club of Chicago. His work at Chicago Metropolis 2020 has focused on the region’s transportation challenges, including the road and transit infrastructure, integration of land use and transportation, the efficiency of freight movement, and the future direction of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.
From 1987 to 1989, LaBelle was an assistant to Governor James R. Thompson and was responsible for local government, transportation and economic development issues. LaBelle has a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University.
"Business Leaders for Transportation has been a bold and informed advocate of an efficient surface transportation system to support the Chicago region’s growing workforce, and I look forward to building on that track record," LaBelle said. "Employers understand the importance of commuting options for their workers and reduced delays for shipping goods."
Business Leaders for Transportation 2000 Agenda includes the following priorities:
- Illinois FIRST implementation;
- Freight transportation public-private investment;
- Innovative transportation planning and regional transportation planning governance;
- Research on the economic importance of transportation to the region; and
- Clean air progress.
LaBelle is Business Leaders for Transportation’s first executive director.
Steve Schlickman of Schlickman and Associates, who has been the part-time coalition manager since 1998, will assist in the transition and will remain as an advisor to the coalition as part of his transportation consulting practice. Schlickman successfully managed the coalition’s widely recognized efforts in support of Governor Ryan’s Illinois FIRST initiative and subsequently guided a membership driven process to develop a multi-faceted action agenda for the organization. The increased involvement of the coalition in transportation issues led to the need for the new position of executive director.