James Peters (Procurement Technical Assistance Center, Director) James Peters is responsible for overseeing NORBIC's Procurement Technical Assistance Center. In this role, he assists Northern Illinois companies in entering or improving their government procurement initiatives and exploring federal, state and private grant opportunities. Most recently James served as a consultant in partnership with the architectural firm of Loebl Schlossman and Hackl on a variety of economic development programs both domestically and internationally. For the last seven years, James has served as advisor to the Mayor's Office, City of Durban, South Africa leading the design and implementation team in opening 3 business incubators. Prior to his consultancy, James was the Director of the Chicago Technology Park for nearly 8 years and succeeded in attracting over 40 companies to the project – graduating 35 with 28 remaining in the region. Under his direction, James leveraged more than $40 million in venture capital funds and angel investments and garnered over $30 million in federal and state grants. For five years James was an Account Executive in the Procurement Planning Services Division of Dun & Bradstreet. James received a graduate certificate from Brown University in government relations and a B.A. from Rhode Island College.