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John A. Adams, Jr., PhD, CEcD
President & CEO
Enterprise Florida, Inc.
Orlando, FL
 Dr. Adams serves as president and chief executive officer of Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) – the public-private organization responsible for leading Florida’s statewide economic development efforts.
During his career, Dr. Adams has provided leadership and expertise in economic development and international trade for several commercial banking and financial institutions. With a focus on strategic planning and regional marketing, he has made strides in fostering cross-border partnerships among local, state and international economic development organizations while pursuing workforce training, legislative advocacy and site selection inventory initiatives. He was captain in the United States Air Force.
In addition to his career highlights, Dr. Adams’ background reflects a broad range of civic involvement and service to higher education and government. This experience includes his appointment to the United States Department of Commerce’s Industry Trade Advisory Council (ITAC-11) for trade policy review, which he chaired from 2000-2005. Adams’ leadership earned him multiple honors and awards including the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Exporter of the Year, for which he was recognized by President Ronald Reagan at a White House Rose Garden ceremony in May 1988.
Dr. Adams has authored eight books on international trade, economic development and history.
Scott D. Adams, CEcD
Chief Urban Redevelopment Officer
City of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
 Scott D. Adams was promoted in April 2009 to the newly created City of Las Vegas position of chief urban redevelopment officer. In his new role, Adams will oversee the direction, operations and coordinated efforts of the Business Development, Cultural Affairs and Neighborhood Services departments. Adams previously served as the city’s Office of Business Development director, as well as the operations officer for the City of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency for almost five years.
Prior to his service with the city, Adams has held numerous positions in the field of urban economic development in New Orleans, La.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn. and in his hometown of Jackson, Mich.
A 1977 Urban Planning Graduate of Michigan State University, he was given the American Institute of Planners Award as the top graduate. He has guest lectured at Florida State University, Memphis State University and Tulane University. He is on the Board of and a Certified Economic Developer with the International Economic Development Council and a past member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He is a current member of the Urban Land Institute.
Robert M. Ady, HLM
President
Ady International Company
Mount Prospect, IL
 Robert M. Ady, former president of PHH Fantus Consulting, has identified optimal locations for more businesses in the United States than any other person. He helped to define the parameters of facility location into a professional field. The methodology and techniques that he introduced into the site selection process are standards by which companies throughout the world select new locations.
Mr. Ady also assists communities in their economic development efforts including: web site content and design, marketing to site selectors, site certification, board training, and competitive benchmarking.
Bob has received the prestigious Edward DeLuca Award Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes the individual who consistently has exemplified the highest standards of professional excellence throughout his or her career in the economic development field.
Mr. Ady is frequently quoted in the national media on such topics as global competition, business location trends, future work force availability, and incentive negotiations. Past coverage includes NBC Nightly News, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Forbes magazine. He has lectured at special forums including the World Conference on Economic Development, World Utility Development Council, the National Association of State Development Agencies and the International Economic Development Council.
Charles S. Alvey, CEcD
President & CEO
Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada
Reno, NV
 In September of 1998 Chuck Alvey was selected to be President/CEO of EDAWN (Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada) a private not-for-profit corporation and public-private partnership in the region. Since that time EDAWN has grown operating revenues from $700,000 (for 2006 and 2007 it was $3.2 million) and annual economic impact from about $125 million to $402 million per year. EDAWN has completed a very extensive analysis of the Greater Reno-Tahoe market. The result is an additional effort to focus on six key industries and niches within to attract, expand and help start-up companies that are high-yield to and sustainable within the market. The effort includes a strong brand/marketing and national public relations campaign to attract those top companies and related skilled workers. Mr. Alvey received his CEcD in 2003. Prior to EDAWN he spent 31 years in television management, programming and production, the final eight as General Manager of KOLO-TV/ABC in Reno. He has twice been selected by the Nevada Business Journal as one of Nevada’s most respected CEO’s and has twice been selected Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association/Reno Chapter.
Bill Arent, CEcD
Acting Director
City of Las Vegas Office of Business Development
Las Vegas, NV
 Bill Arent is currently serving as acting director for the city of Las Vegas Office of Business Development (OBD). In this capacity, he will oversee the planning, contractual obligations, finances and day-to-day operations of this department.
Prior to becoming acting OBD director, Arent held the position of OBD redevelopment manager, supervising the professional staff supporting the city of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency. Employed with the city since 1997, Arent has held numerous positions in housing development, economic development, and redevelopment. He was the senior project manager for Union Park, and has negotiated development agreements for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute and The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Public Administration from UNLV. He is certified as an economic development finance professional by the National Development Council and as a certified economic developer by the International Economic Development Council.
Owen Beitsch, PhD, AICP, CRE
Orlando, FL
William E. Best, FM
Senior Vice President, Manager Community Development Banking
PNC Bank
East Brunswick, NJ
 William Best joined PNC Bank in September, 2003 as Senior Vice President, Northeast Territory Manager, Community Development Banking in its East Brunswick, N. J. office. In this role, he is responsible for the Bank’s commitment towards the growth and prosperity of the low-moderate income segments and its communities, with a focus on economic development, affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. He comes to PNC from his position of Executive Director of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority. Under his leadership, the agency leveraged over $1.3 billion in economic development. investments. His twenty plus years experience in banking and business were acquired through an executive banking career whereby he developed, managed, and supervised lending programs for the major financial services institutions.
Mr. Best has been recognized with several awards. A graduate of North Carolina Central University, he did graduate studies with Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Banking Program, and completed the Executive Program at Harvard University’s J. F. K. School of Government. He has been affiliated for many years with the New Jersey Urban Bankers Association.
He presently serves on the board of New Jersey Future, New Jersey Regional Plan Association, the Newark Regional Business Partnership, and the IEDC.
Joseph James Bevilacqua
President & CEO
Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce
Lawrence, MA
 For more than a decade Joseph Bevilacqua has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce. During this time the Merrimack Valley Chamber has grown from 400 members to more than 1,400 members within the Merrimack Valley communities north of Boston within the culturally and socially diverse communities of Lawrence and Andover, Methuen, North Andover, Greater Haverhill, Greater Lowell and southern New Hampshire.
Under Joseph Bevilacqua’s direction, the Chamber created The Merrimack Valley Means Business Program, the first regional economic development assistance program between four communities, working directly with the Mayors and Town Managers of Andover, Lawerence, Methuen and North Andover to assist in business expansion, business recruitment and workforce development. The regional aspect of this program, and its unique economic development program that will achieve over a $100 million in private investment and helped to create and retain 2,000 jobs, resulted in the MV Chamber's Program being awarded The Massachusetts Municipal Association's Innovation Award.
Prior to the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, Joseph Bevilacqua was the Economic Development Director with the City of Haverhill, Massachusetts. In addition, Joseph Bevilacqua is the Past Chair and current northeast region Board member of the Massachusetts Economic Development Council. Joseph Bevilacqua is Chairman of the Merrimack Valley WIB and a Member of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Advisory Board. He is also Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board and the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of the North of Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau where he is currently an Executive Committee Member.
Rita G. Brandin
Senior Vice President, Development Director
Newland Communities
Las Vegas, NV
 Rita Brandin is senior vice president and development director for Newland Communities’ Western Region. Brandin oversees development of Symphony Park, a 61-acre, 10 -million-square-foot mixed-use project in the heart of downtown Las Vegas. Newland was retained by the City of Las Vegas in December 2005 to act as development manager for the project.
Prior to joining Newland Communities in March 2006, Brandin was employed by Metroflag Management, LLC, where she was the vice president of asset management and retail development with additional responsibilities as chief operating officer for 18 months. With more than 20 years experience in the real estate industry, she previously served as senior vice president of development for The Howard Hughes Corporation and senior development director for The Rouse Company, where she oversaw the redevelopment of Fashion Show, a nearly 2-million-square-foot retail center located on the Las Vegas Strip.
Brandin received a BA from Agnes Scott College, in Atlanta, Georgia. A member of Urban Land Institute (ULI), Brandin serves on its Urban Mixed-Use Council, and the Executive Committee of the Las Vegas District Council. She is a Board member of Make-A-Wish Foundation, and HomeAid of Nevada. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the UNLV Foundation.
Laura Brandt
Manager, Economic Development
Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation
Denver, CO
 Laura Brandt is the Manager of Economic Development for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. She is responsible for prospects, research, and business recruitment and retention.
Prior to joining the Metro Denver EDC, Laura was an Economic Development Specialist for the City of Lakewood for six years. While at Lakewood, Laura coordinated the creation of two urban renewal districts and the relocation of more than 50 businesses that were displaced by the $750 million Belmar redevelopment.
Laura has more than 20 years experience in economic development community organization, and marketing. As Executive Director of the Rockford Central Area Corporation, Rockford, Illinois, Laura was responsible for the economic development and marketing of the city’s downtown. She served three terms as a member of the City Council in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A Wisconsin native, Laura is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.
Aaron Seth Brickman
Director, Invest in America
US Department of Commerce
Washington, DC
 Aaron Brickman is the founding Director of Invest in America, the first formal effort by the Federal Government in a generation to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States. His primary responsibilities include management and coordination of investment promotion and related agency activities, working with state and local economic development entities, and undertaking outreach to the international investment community.
Leading Invest in America bridges Mr. Brickman’s past international investment promotion activities. Before joining Commerce he worked in international economic consulting and strategy, dealing extensively with private sector expansion mechanisms and focusing primarily on international trade and investment promotion. He advised in the planning and operations of national and sub-national investment promotion efforts, and was a resident advisor to the Government of Mozambique on export development.
Previously at Commerce, Mr. Brickman focused on analysis of worldwide and U.S. developments in renewable energy and the analysis of oil and gas industry developments in Africa and Asia. In addition, he was the U.S. energy industry’s principal liaison within Commerce on international transparency and anti-corruption policies. During 2005-2007, Mr. Brickman played a crucial role in developing Commerce’s contribution to Presidential initiatives on clean energy and climate change.
Mr. Brickman has worked as a Senior Consultant for a Chicago-based electronic commerce firm specializing in international logistics fulfillment. Overall his work has taken him to more than 40 countries.
Mr. Brickman holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, DC. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and family.
Ian Bromley, FM, MA, MBA
Chief Executive
Creative Sheffield/Sheffield City Development Company
United Kingdom
 In September 2006, Ian Bromley was appointed as the first Chief Executive of Creative Sheffield, in Sheffield, England). Creative Sheffield is a City Development Company encompassing the activities of predecessors, Sheffield One (City Centre Regeneration Company) and Sheffield First for Investment (Inward Investment Agency) and building new capacities in marketing and branding, innovation and the knowledge economy, and regional economic development to create a comprehensive and effective company to transform Sheffield’s economy.
Mr Bromley joined Creative Sheffield from Toronto, Canada where he held a number of progressively senior positions in Management Consulting (Boston Consulting Group), Economic Development, Communication, Marketing and Innovation development in the private and public sectors. Most recently, Mr Bromley served the Government of Ontario, Canada as Director of Urban Economic Development, Director of Economic Development Strategy and Director of Infrastructure and Innovation.
Mr Bromley has also worked as a consultant, advisor and teacher in urban and economic development in Japan, China, New Zealand, Brazil, the United States and Canada.
Mr. Bromley currently serves as Chair of the International Economic Development Council. He has been a long standing board member with the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance, the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, the Ottawa Partnership, the Waterloo Accelerator Centre, the Economic Development Council of Ontario, and the Innovation Systems Research Network.
Ronnie L. Bryant, CEcD, FM, HLM
President & CEO
Charlotte Regional Partnership
Charlotte, NC
 As President and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, Ronnie Bryant leads the economic development organization that promotes the 16-county Charlotte region as a premier location for businesses considering expansion or relocation. Bryant is nationally known for his proven track record of establishing and implementing successful economic development programs, with a strong emphasis on existing industry expansion and retention, regionalism and marketing.
Prior to joining CRP, Bryant served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Pittsburgh Regional, Senior Vice President of the Economic Development Division for the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association and led the development team at the Shreveport, LA., Chamber of Commerce.
Bryant is a graduate of Louisiana State University in Shreveport and the Economic Development Institute (EDI). He is a recipient of the American Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) Robert B. Cassell Leadership Award for excellence in leadership and scholarship. He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and currently serves as a member of EDI’s Board of Directors and is immediate past president of that organization. Bryant is actively involved with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), where he has been designated as a Fellow Member (FM) and currently serves as Past Chairman of the Board.
Edward Burghard
Harley Procter Marketer/Executive Director
Procter & Gamble/Ohio Business Development Coalition
Columbus, OH
 Ed Burghard serves as the Executive Director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, a not-for-profit marketing company with the mission of creating a globally competitive and sustainable Ohio brand. He is also a Harley Procter Marketer at the Procter & Gamble Company, an award conferred on P&G employees who are considered masters in the practical application of marketing theory. Along with his interests in branding Ohio and its communities, Ed is a frequent speaker and commentator on “Brand America”, expressing our need as a nation to return to the values important to us. His website www.StrengtheningBrandAmerica.com is an economic development professional community of practice that provides insight in the successful reapplication of product and corporate branding principles to market communities and states. Ed holds a B.A. in theoretical mathematics from the State University of New York at Potsdam and a MBA from Syracuse University with focuses in innovation management and marketing.
Larry Burkhardt
President & CEO
Upstate Colorado Economic Development
Greeley, CO
 Larry Burkhardt serves as President/CEO of Upstate Colorado Economic Development, with offices in Greeley, Colorado. His experience in economic development spans nearly twenty years, and includes positions as the first President/CEO of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council, located in Grass Valley, California, and President/CEO of the Economic Development Association of Longmont, Colorado.
Upstate Colorado has seen significant job growth during the past two years, with several large corporate locations and expansions, including Vestas America, Leprino Foods, JBS, Abound Solar, Hexcel, Inc.—representing nearly 4,000 new primary jobs. It has been identified by Forbes Magazine as the #1 MSA in the country for five-year income growth; and by the Milken Institute as #10 in one-year job growth.
Larry has published in excess of one hundred articles on economic development; has hosted weekly radio shows on economic development in Colorado and California; and has been retained as a speaker on economic development for many local, state and national audiences. He has served on many local and national Boards, including terms on the National League of Cities Economic Development Committee, Comstock’s Business Magazine’s Editorial Board and President of the Rural Telecommunications Congress. He was elected to four terms on the Longmont, Colorado City Council, serving eleven years, including two years as Mayor. Larry currently serves as President of the Greeley Redeye Rotary Club.
Julia Burrows
Deputy City Manager
City of Roseville, California
Roseville, CA
 Julia Burrows is the Deputy City Manager/Economic Development Director for the City of Roseville. She began her career with the City 21 years ago after graduating from UC Davis with a degree in Environmental Planning. Julia leads the City of Roseville Green Team, a 35-member creative staff group tasked with all aspects of Roseville’s sustainability efforts. Julia is active in the Green Capital Alliance, the Sacramento region’s collaborative effort to green local businesses, streamline government permitting and attract new clean tech businesses to the six-county region. Julia was also a two-time co-chair of the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Cap-to-Cap Green Team which traveled to Washington to lobby federal representatives on legislation benefiting the Sacramento region’s green efforts.
Mark Buschenfeldt
Project Manager
Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade
Denver, CO
Mark Buschenfeldt is a Project Manager in the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. He provides site selection and development assistance to expanding and relocating companies in Colorado, generally focusing on large industrial and commercial developments.
Since late 2007 Mark has worked with Danish manufacturing company, Vestas Wind Systems A/S, to locate, construct and operate production facilities throughout Colorado. These projects constitute more than $700 million in capital investment and will result in the creation of more than 2,500 new jobs. Additionally, Mark completed a six-month leadership program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and has some experience siting wind and solar power generation projects.
Previously, Mark did economic and tax consulting in connection with corporate real estate decisions. These services included site selection assistance and incentive negotiations, which his team at BDO Seidman, LLP, provided for clients in diverse industries nationwide. He also worked as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Mark hails from Natick, MA, attended Colby College in Maine and lived in the Boston metropolitan area until moving to Denver in 2006.
Robert J. Camoin, CEcD
Principal
Camoin and Associates
Sarasota Springs, NY
Honorable Bob Cashell
Mayor
City of Reno, NV
Kurt Chilcott, CEcD, FM, HLM
President & CEO
CDC Small Business Finance Corporation
San Diego, CA
Kurt Chilcott is a nationally recognized leader in economic and community development and small business finance. For 25 years, he has developed and led innovative and successful organizations and programs in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Under Chilcott’s leadership, the San Diego-headquartered CDC Small Business Finance has experienced extraordinary growth in its offices throughout California, Arizona and Nevada.
Chilcott has a long history of association leadership in the economic development field. He currently serves on the board of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders. He was the first co-chair of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the last chair of the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED), chair of the National Association of Development Companies (NADCO) and president of the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED). He has also served on the boards of numerous local and state non-profit organizations.
Chilcott’s leadership and accomplishments have been recognized by his peers and industry leaders. He is both a Fellow Member and Honorary Life Member of the International Economic Development Council. Chilcott has received both the Golden Bear Award – California’s Highest Accolade for Economic Development Leadership – and the Arthur Goodman Memorial Award for commitment to underserved populations and areas. During his tenure, CDC has received the National Lender Award a record three times, most recently in 2007.
Chilcott received his B.A. from Harvard and holds a Master’s in Public Policy from UC Berkeley.
Anne Corriston
Program Director
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Wichita, KS
 Anne Corriston is a lifetime Wichitan who serves her community as program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. She directs and oversees Knight’s grant investments in Wichita, KS; Aberdeen, SD; and Grand Forks, ND. Recent Knight Foundation investments in Wichita have emphasized connecting local residents to quality jobs in aviation, health care, and related industries. In 2008, as a result of Anne’s leadership, Knight Foundation made workforce grants in south central Kansas totaling nearly $4 million. A recent grant to the Wichita State University Foundation will implement Project Lead the Way, a science-technology-engineering and math curriculum, in Sedgwick County middle and high schools. Ms. Corriston’s focus on workforce development helped the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas become a funding site of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. Anne is deeply committed to helping people harness their potential for achievement through meaningful and gainful employment.
Julie Curtin
Vice President & Partner
Development Counsellors International
New York, NY
 Julie Curtin is an Executive Vice President and Partner at Development Counsellors International (DCI), a New York-based economic development marketing firm. As the “Leader in Marketing Places”, since 1960 DCI has worked with more than 350 cities, regions, states and countries to promote their locations for investment. DCI staffs more than 40 economic development and travel marketing professionals, the largest assembly of “place marketing” specialists in the world.
For the last 13 years Julie has worked with dozens of cities, states and countries to develop marketing plans, fine tune story angles, manage messaging, determine and coach spokespeople and work with economic development groups to tell their community’s business stories through the national and international media.
Just a sampling of places Julie has represented includes San Diego, Tacoma, North Dakota, Research Triangle Park, Charleston, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Huntsville, New Mexico and Denver, among others.
Working closely with her clients, Julie has placed feature stories in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Fast Company, CNN, Bloomberg and The Economist, to name just a few.
Julie opened the DCI West office in Denver, CO in 1998 and became a DCI Partner in March 2002.
Charles D’Agostino
Executive Director
Louisiana Business & Technology Center
Aaron Demerson
Executive Director of Economic Development & Tourism
Office of the Governor
State of Texas
Kenneth E. Dobson
Director, Community & Economic Development
The University of Toledo
University College
Toledo, OH
 Kenneth E. Dobson has in excess of thirty years of valuable leadership experience in highly diversified practices of applied local economic development in cities throughout America of varying sizes, types, locations, and levels of fiscal, economic, and growth conditions. He is a nationally and internationally recognized economic development leader with many credits for his innovative contributions to the growth of the practice and profession of urbanregional economic development. He has developed expertise in accelerating energy-efficiency and renewable energy integration and applications in sustainable development, tech-based economic development and smart urbanregional practices in 21st century community and economic development. He has developed a very rich blend of local economic development experience as a practitioner in several cities and quasi-public economic development organizations integrated with professional economic development experience from both academic and private sector application perspectives.
He has held joint appointment in economic development at The University of Toledo over the last 10 years while also serving the university and the external economic development sectors at the local, regional, domestic and international levels. Professional positions at The University of Toledo include: Director, Community and Economic Development Division, Director of the Clean and Green Building Resource Laboratory, Director, Emerging Applied Building and Construction Technologies Program, Director, Capacity-Building in Construction Program, Director, Workforce Technology Preparedness Program and Adjunct Associate Professor.
Mr. Dobson has also designed, developed and taught a very popular series of smart integrated building and construction application courses associated with building sustainable” green” buildings, communities and economies. The specific focus of his work is centered on the strategic application and integration of energy-efficiency, renewable energy and environmental technologies and techniques required to facilitate diversification and growth of sustainable local urbanregional economies and for the creation of a new generation of sustainable” green” jobs through technology-driven sustainable community economic development strategies, policies, programs, projects and practices.
He has been awarded the prestigious Richard Preston Award and Honorable Mention recognition for his innovations in the practice of sustainable and tech-driven community economic development by the 4,600 member International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
Paul Fischburg
Senior Community Development Policy Analyst
Seattle Office of Policy and Management
Jay A. Garner, CEcD, CCE, FM, HLM
President
Competitive Strategies Group, LLC
Atlanta, GA
 Jay A. Garner, CEcD, CCE is the President and founder of the Competitive Strategies Group, LLC, an economic development consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Jay is a leader and innovator in the economic development profession, having served for 29 years as both an award winning economic development and chamber practitioner, and as a consultant to the profession. His firm has assisted clients throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe on a wide variety of projects, offering innovative, yet real world solutions to achieve success. Jay often lectures and provides counsel on creating and implementing proactive global business development strategies and tactics. His firm is also a leader in providing assistance to corporate clients in their site selection process, such as Anchor Glass, Academy Sports, Hatfield Quality Meats, Stork, Future Pipe Industries and others. His firm is the exclusive provider of site location services for the Facility Group, a global leader in architecture, engineering and construction management headquartered in Atlanta and their worldwide clients.
Jay is a graduate of West Virginia University with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration degrees. He is also a graduate of both the Economic Development Course at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma, where he is an instructor in international prospecting. Jay has led over 25 trade and business development missions on four continents leading to the creation of thousands of jobs and several billion in capital investment. He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a Fellow Member and an Honorary Life Member, the three highest professional designations awarded to those in the economic development profession by the International Economic Development Council. He is also a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), a professional designation awarded to Chamber professionals by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Association.
He was selected as one of ten outstanding leaders in economic development in the United States by Site Selection magazine while leading the economic development program in Mobile, Alabama. The same publication also recognized him for running one of the ten best development organizations in the U.S for six consecutive years. The Mayor and City Council of Mobile declared July 29, 1994 as “Jay Garner Day” in the City for his nine years of achievements as chief economic development officer for the City and County. As the CEO of the Asheville, NC Chamber, the organization became the first Chamber in the U.S. to win a Quality Award by the North Carolina Quality Foundation based on the national Malcolm Baldrige criteria. He was honored in both 2002 and 2003 by his alma mater, West Virginia University with the Distinguished Alumnus Award within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Jay is a past chairman for the International Economic Development Council, the largest economic development professional trade organization in the world. He is also a past chairman of the American Economic Development Council.
Gynivella Abracosa Gilliam
Executive Director
Bannock Development Corporation
Pocatello, ID
 Ms. Gilliam is the Executive Director of the Bannock Development Corporation. Her primary responsibility is to help create jobs through business recruitment, retention and expansion. Ms. Gilliam holds a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan and a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from UCLA.
She loves her work, and her enthusiasm can be contagious. Ms. Gilliam was instrumental in creating the economic partnership, whose credits include recruiting --in under three years--, six companies who will create well over 1500 direct jobs in the greater Pocatello region. She also takes pride in her role in establishing a distance-learning program in Salmon to enable residents to take nursing and other college-level courses, and in developing the Challis Rapid Reaction Observatory to enable HS students to participate in NASA-caliber research. These two communities received a 2006 Great Strides Award from the Northwest Area Foundation for their efforts in improving the lives of rural residents. The hallmark of her leadership includes her ability to build strong partnerships, her insatiable thirst for knowledge, and her inability to think some things are not possible. Ms. Gilliam has been married for 27 years and has two sons, Jonathan and Michael.
Angeline Godwin
President
Area Development Partnership, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS
 Angeline has been the president of the Area Development Partnership of Hattiesburg, MS since 2005. Prior to her current position, Angeline held various leadership positions ranging from Dean of Arts and Sciences for Jackson State Community College to CEO/President of Ashland Community College and later CEO/President of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, Inc. She then moved on to become Vice President for Research and Economic Development at The University of Southern Mississippi and later President for the University of Southern Mississippi Research Foundation.
Angeline currently serves as a board member for many different associations, including the Greater Hattiesburg Community Foundation, Pink Ribbon Fund, State Science and Technology Institute, Homes of Hope for Children and United Way of Southeast Mississippi, just to name a few.
Angeline received her Juris Doctorate degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, MI. She also holds a Ph.D in English from Florida State University.
William Hearn
President
Site Dynamics
Atlanta, GA
 Will has provided facility location and economic development consulting services for over 18 years, with an emphasis on selecting sites for expansion and managing complex site selection programs for industry. Most recently, Mr. Hearn founded Site Dynamics, a firm focused on building an online marketplace for development agencies and expansion-ready companies (www.sidyn.com).
Site Dynamics offers SiteXcellerator™, a web-based application for economic development agencies to place their sites online within a data rich environment to support site selection. The application is the most advanced online application available to support prospects engaged in site selection with a full range of demographic, economic and corporate data available. A second product, LeadXcellerator™ allows clients to identify expansion-ready companies by evaluating a firm’s ability to raise capital and spend resources on growth.
Will has provided site selection, real estate and transition management consulting services to a diversity of clients. Prior to joining CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene, Mr. Hearn spent 10 years with a national site selection consulting firm and spent two years working for The University of Georgia, where he developed research park strategies and worked to support biotech economic development. Mr. Hearn spent several years working in Germany as an industrial specialist with IBM Corporation.
Michael Hess
Chief Executive Officer
Mariah Power Headquarters
Reno, NV
 Mike Hess, a successful entrepreneur, is a co-founder and CEO of Mariah Power. Mike has spent the past 15 years bringing new technologies into the market with experience ranging from hardware platforms to software, developing the first digital pager, the first MPEG2 encoding system for DirecTV, and component level, optical component technologies. Mike has cofounded three companies and has also served as vice president of finance and vice president of operations for companies including etNetworks, a business education broadcasting company; Raychem, which creates products based on material science technology; Spectra Physics, specializing in semiconductor-based laser and optical technologies; Measurex, which develops computer control systems for industry, and Meta Systems, creators of the first digital pager.
Under Mike’s leadership, Mariah Power has been the recipient the 2008 Nevada Governor’s Industry Appreciation Award and Popular Science’s Best of What’s New Award in the green category. Mike was also recently named a 2008 Reno Journal Gazette Entrepreneur of the Year.
Mike currently resides in Lake Tahoe with his wife. When he is not travelling across the globe to speak about Mariah Power, he likes to play poker, snow shoe with his wife, and enjoy a picnic on his boat on Lake Tahoe.
Jason M. Hickey
Associate
Hickey and Associates
Washington, DC
 Jason joined Hickey & Associates, LLC, full time as an Associate on January 1, 2007. He is responsible for Technology and Business Development. Jason opened and manages the Hickey & Associates, LLC, Washington, DC (Mid Atlantic) Office in 2008. He is engaged in all aspects of the business including site selection, economic development activities and manages the Public Incentive Management System for both the private and public sector. Prior experience includes several leadership positions in the public election process.
Jason is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and worked part time for Hickey & Associates during his undergraduate studies.
Don A. Holbrook, CEcD, FM
President & CEO
The Vercitas Group
Lake Havasu City, AZ
 Don Holbrook is a private practitioner involved in site selection for private sector investment projects and economic development consulting nationally as one of the fields most influential and recognized subject matter experts. His site selection practice specializes in public backed inducements and incentives in the tourism destination entertainment location decisions, through, the establishment of a public private partnerships in such projects. Don has specialized in creating customized incentive policies that reduce the over-all cost of the project to the clients with favorable ROI to both the private and public sector partners.
Holbrook is recognized as an early pioneer of site location and community profiling technology in web based infrastructure. He assisted in establishing the data standards utilized today as the industry standard through his role at the International Economic Development Council, IEDC. He is regarded as one of the experts in the field on technology based site selection and creative financing for public investments in attracting business catalyst private sector projects. He is the developer of the patent pending dynamic site location database model now currently licensed to the industry with the IEDC.
He has authored two books, his first the "Little Black Book of Economic Development," and his most recent book, “Who Moved My Smoke Stack.” He is a highly published and quoted subject matter experts and is a frequent keynote speaker on the "Art of the Deal Today" and "Globalization" for economic development groups, chambers of commerce and corporations.
Robin Hunden
President
Hunden Strategic Partners
Beverly Shores, IN
Henry Iler, AICP
Principal/Owner
Iler Planning
Palm Beach, FL
Kjaer Lundoe Jakobsen
Vice President, Business Development
Vestas Blades A/S
Denmark
Ronald Kitchens, CEcD
Chief Executive Officer
Southwest Michigan First
Kalamazoo, MI
 Described by The Economist as “an energetic economic development leader,” Ron Kitchens is the Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Michigan First, as well as the General Partner of Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund.
He is the author of the best-selling book, Community Capitalism: Lessons from Kalamazoo and Beyond, which presents a ground-breaking economic development strategy for individuals, groups and organizations wondering what they can do to make a real difference in their communities. He also writes a monthly business column.
Ron is known for his motivational speeches to business and professional groups throughout the nation and internationally. Topics include Community Capitalism, Leadership Lessons, Dual Bottom Line Investing, Education as Economic Development and Talent Gets It Done.
Ron has worked with more than 200 Fortune 500, international and regional corporations as diverse as Stryker, GE Capital, Aker, Celanese, Scholastic, Kiewit, Boeing, Exxon Mobil and Ryan Sanders Baseball. Along with his 25 years of experience as an economic developer and venture capitalist, Ron has successfully started and operated multiple privately held companies. In addition, he has been an elected official and staff member to U.S. Senator John Danforth.
Ron’s work has been recognized with dozens of awards, including the prestigious National Marketing for Results Award, The Wall Street Journal’s Winning Workplaces, the Leadership and Innovation Awards from CoreNet Global and numerous International Economic Development Council Awards. He has been extensively featured in over 100 national and international media outlets including CBS News, Forbes, Fortune, Fox Business News, NBC News, NPR, The Economist, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.
Paul J. Kleijne
Partner
ARCUSplus - Transatlantic Business Development
The Hague, Netherlands
Paul Kleijne is an international business development expert with many years of experience advising economic development agencies developing marketing/acquisition and retention management plans and assisting them setting-up marketing activities abroad.
From 1997 through 2005 Paul Kleijne held various positions at the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency. He was appointed as Area Director and later as Marketing Director at the agency’s Chicago office, mandated to target North American companies to locate overseas expansion in the Netherlands. Worked closely with some 250 companies in all possible industry sectors assisting them to find the right business location in the European market. Developed an extensive network with North American and Dutch intermediary organizations, and in recent years a comprehensive marketing, marketing communications and public relations strategies for six NFIA offices in North America. Back in the Netherlands, in the capacity of Head North America Desk, Paul has set-up an account management program for current investors in his country, and was able to increased exposure and awareness for the NFIA as an organization that is able to add value to existing foreign operations.
Robin Roberts Krieger, FM
Executive Vice President
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Of Commerce
Oklahoma City, OK
 Robin Roberts Krieger is Executive Vice President of Economic Development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, and leads the 10-county region in international and domestic business recruitment, and Oklahoma City in expansion and retention, research and strategy development. She oversees contracts with the City of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County to provide their economic development services. She recently played a key role in the acquisition of the idled GM facility by the County, which has been leased to the US Air Force and Tinker AFB.
Roberts-Krieger is a native of Oregon, and has over a decade of public service in the economic development and public policy arena. Prior to assuming the position in Oklahoma City, she served as a Regional Coordinator for the Oregon Governor’s Office, focusing on developing cooperation between local, community and state government on economic development projects. Areas of focus included Transportation, Land Use, Housing, and Environmental Issues. She lead and effort to expand Fort Clatsop National Park during her tenure.
Previously she served as Director of Economic Development for the Portland Development Commission, where she oversaw Economic Development activities as well as two urban renewal areas, including light rail development to the Portland International Airport. Prior, she was Executive Director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, and International and Product Development Manager for the Oregon Tourism Commission, part of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. She spent several years in the private sector before entering public service.
Roberts-Krieger holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Oregon State University (Go Beavers!) and a Master’s of Science in Educational Administration from Portland State University. She has completed OU/EDI, and was a scholarship recipient for the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.
She is Past Chair of The International Economic Development Council. She serves on the Board of the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC), as well as the Governor’s Economic Development Team.
Roberts-Krieger is the co-author of “Community Wisdom”, a humorous look at economic and community development and a frequently requested speaker on economic development topics.
Paul Krutko
Chief Development Officer
City of San Jose - Office of the City Manager
San Jose, CA
Since joining the City of San Jose in 2002, Paul Krutko has led the development and implementation of an Economic Development Strategy for one of the world’s leading center of technology and innovation. He also helped create and implement the City’s Green Vision that is creating economic growth through ten environmental sustainability goals.
Significant accomplishments include retention and expansion projects for headquarter facilities for eBay and Cisco Systems, the acquisition of 78 acres of a former FMC site for mixed use development which includes a major league soccer stadium.
Krutko has been instrumental in advocating and developing signature events, such as the biennial ZeroOne San Jose art and technology festival and the returning Amgen Tour of California. As chief development officer, Krutko leads the City of San Jose’s Community and Economic Development City Service Area coordinating a broad range of development service and facilitation activities on behalf of the City Manager.
Prior to coming to San Jose, he held various strategic economic development, downtown leadership and planning roles with the City of Jacksonville, Florida, Cleveland, Ohio and Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Krutko is a board member of the International Economic Development Council and the California Association for Local Economic Development.
Ronald C. Kysiak, HLM
Senior Project Manager
IDEA Partnership, LLC
Evanston, IL
 Executive VP and CEO of the recently completed Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park, a 20-acre mixed use, urban research park located just north of Chicago. Also Executive Director of Evanston Inventure, a not-for-profit economic development corporation supported by Evanston’s largest employers including Northwestern University and the City of Evanston. Also Senior Consultant of IDEA Partnerships, a for-profit developer and manager of technology parks in the USA.
Former director of economic development for the cities of New Haven, Connecticut and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Planned and started the New Haven Science Park at Yale. Past president of both the Council for Urban Economic Development and the Association of University Research Parks. Recipient of the DeLuca Lifetime Achievement Award from IEDC and the Career Achievement Award from AURP. Extensive consulting in the US and overseas on technology-based economic development including research parks, incubators, seed capital formation and investing, technology commercialization and strategic planning for the creation of new knowledge communities.
Consulting US: Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Lansing MI; Project Future, South Bend IN; Hershey Medical Center, Hershey PA; Center for Emerging Technologies, St. Louis MO; Marquette University, Milwaukee WI; University City Science Center, Philadelphia PA; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA; Oklahoma Technology & Research Park, Stillwater OK; Saratoga Technology + Energy Park, Malta, NY; South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD; University of Missouri St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; New Orleans Regional Plan Commission, New Orleans, LA; University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Consulting/Training International: Tallinn, Estonia, USAID; University at Wodz, Poland; City of Hull, UK, IEDC; USAID, Poland/former German Democratic Republic; Republic of Croatia, OECD; Charles Percy Associates, Beijing, China; Fabrykat 2000, Kierkz, Poland; University of Akyureri, Akyureri, Iceland; Tehnopol Technology Park, Tallinn, Estonia; Commissar of Public Education, USSR, Tomsk, Siberia; Government of Poland, Warsaw/Gdansk; Creative Sheffield City Development Company, Sheffield, UK.
Raymond J. Langen
Executive Vice President
Journal Communication
Franklin, TN
 Ray Langen is the Executive Vice President and owner/partner at Journal Communications. Journal is a custom magazine media company working with economic development organizations across the country developing custom magazines in print and online that help to capture the quality of place and quality of business environment in the city, county, region or state. Ray oversees new business development efforts and manages a team of regional managers. Ray spearheaded Journal’s rapid growth in chamber of commerce publishing after joining the company in 1999 and has helped that segment to grow by over 500%,. He has also expand the companies presence in the agribusiness market with groups like the Tennessee Farm Bureau and the National FFA as well as securing additional business in the travel and tourism fields. Prior to joining Journal, Mr. Langen spent 15 years with FISI-Madison Financial, the nation leading bank marketing consulting firm. He left as senior vice president of national sales, and worked directly with the nations largest banks.
Ray graduated with honors from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Economics and is a graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Organizational Management as well as a variety of banking schools. He has served on the board of United Way, Nashville Center for Independent Living, and the Illinois Bank Marketing Association. He and his wife, Penny, live in Brentwood Tennessee with their two children. In his spare time, Ray enjoys riding motocross, water skiing and barefooting, caving, rappelling, golf and hiking.
Mark Lautman, CEcD
Owner
Lautman Economic Architectural
Albuquerque, NM
 Mark Lautman is Chairman of the New Mexico Economic Development Commission and a founding director of the Community Economic Lab, a private not-for-profit think tank focused on developing new strategies for managing economic and workforce development at the local level.
Mark was also the former Vice President of Economic Development for Mesa del Sol, a new master planned community of 100,000 residents being developed in Albuquerque New Mexico by Forest City Enterprises and Covington Capital. His business unit was responsible for the design and execution of an economic development master plan to meet the developer’s commitment to create 30,000 net new economic base jobs on site by build out.
Since becoming a professional economic developer 25 years ago Mark designed and managed three other economic development programs attracting more than 75 corporate locations accounting for more than 12,000 new jobs, 5 million square feet of industrial space, and $10 billion in new investment.
Mark is a 1971 graduate of the University of New Mexico in Economics, Architecture and Geography and a former Peace Corps Volunteer.
Vern Lawson
Director, Economic Development/Redevelopment Department
City of Lancaster
Lancaster, CA
 Vern Lawson has over thirty-five years of economic development management experience. This includes business attraction, creation, and retention programs that have brought significant economic activity to the City of Lancaster. The City of Lancaster’s first City Manager from 1978 1981, Mr. Lawson also held positions as former Executive Director of Lancaster Economic Development Corporation for 17 years, Marketing and Economic Development Manager from 1998 to 2006, and most recently, the Director of Economic Development/Redevelopment for the City of Lancaster’s Redevelopment Agency, which has recently adopted a new strategic plan entitled “Creating Quality At Work / In Life,” and established a new brandprint for the community.
Notable projects and achievements that occurred under Mr. Lawson’s tenure include the Lancaster and Fox Field Business Parks, as well as the attraction of Countrywide Home Loans, SYGMA Food Distribution Center, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Reservation Call Center, Rite Aid, and may other firms. Mr. Lawson has been involved with a number of organizations including the past president of California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED), Antelope Valley Air Pollution Control District, and the Career Prep Council, a public/private partnership with the local High School District, which strives to increase worker productivity by utilizing business education partnerships. Mr. Lawson is a graduate of U.C.L.A.
Ray Leach
Chief Executive Officer
JumpStart Inc.
 Ray Leach, a serial entrepreneur, experienced angel investor, and expert in technology entrepreneurship, has been CEO of JumpStart since its founding in 2004. Ray brings his energy and leadership experiences from founding five high growth entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial endeavors in the last 20 years. His time has been focused on creating and leading JumpStart, one of the most active and innovative venture development organizations in the United States. Ray’s career began at IBM and has been principally focused on information technology companies previous to JumpStart. Ray is a Sloan Fellow and earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He also earned a BA in Finance from the University of Akron. Ray serves on the boards of the Council of Competitiveness in Washington DC, the Ohio Venture Association, the Red Cross Blood Services of Northern Ohio, and is the Chairman of the Invent Now Kids board of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum.
Penny Lewandowski
Director, Entrepreneurship Development
Edward Lowe Foundation
Cassopolis, MI
 Penny Lewandowski joined the Edward Lowe Foundation in 2005 as the director of entrepreneurship development. Drawing on a background of partnership management and community development, she is responsible for identifying and cultivating partners with the capacity to deliver the foundation’s message and programs nationwide. She also manages program rollouts and directs the entrepreneurship team.
Prior to joining the foundation, Penny was the executive director of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, a membership organization developed to build, nurture and grow the region’s technology community. She also directed the entrepreneurship and education efforts for the Morino Institute’s Netpreneur Program, a nationally recognized entrepreneurship effort in the Greater Washington D.C. area.
In 2003, Penny was named winner of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s National Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award presented in conjunction with Ernst & Young’s National Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The Baltimore Business Journal named her as one of the region’s Most Influential Leaders and she was recognized as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by the Daily Record newspaper.
Rick Little
Director, Real Estate
Weyerhaeuser Company
Federal Way, WA
 Rick has been an employee of Weyerhaeuser Company since 1983. He started with the company as a environmental paralegal, spent two years as Manager of Information Systems for the Law Department and for the last eighteen years has been a part of the Real Estate Services group, taking over leadership of the group in 2002. The charter of the RES team is to provide support to the company’s non-timberland operating businesses including site selection, contract negotiation, lease administration and the disposition of surplus assets. Weyerhaeuser Company occupies more than 20 million square feet in 300+ US sites. Real Estate Services also consults with the company’s offshore manufacturing operations and offices in eighteen foreign countries. Rick also manages the Land Title group responsible for the administration and maintenance of all permanent real property records, including the six million acres of privately held timberlands.
Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2008, sales were $8 billion. It has offices or operations in 10 countries, with customers worldwide. Weyerhaeuser is principally engaged in the growing and harvesting of timber; the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products; and real estate construction and development.
David R. Lloyd
Director
Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Washington, DC
 David Lloyd is the Director of the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization in the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. David assumed this position in January of 2006 after holding a variety of positions in the areas of private and Government legal practice, real estate operations and development. From 2002 to 2005, he served as the national director of EPA's facilities and real estate program. In this position, David oversaw the construction, alterations, leasing operations and maintenance of the Agency's 191 facilities nationwide, focusing on sustainable design and development. David held the position of EPA's Assistant General Counsel for Claims and Property Law, and prior to that worked in private law practice in the areas of commercial real property and civil litigation. David received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University in 1985, and a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1988.
Connie Loden
President & CEO
Heart of Wisconsin Business and Economic Alliance
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
 Connie Loden, Executive Director for Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance, coordinates community economic development projects in Central Wisconsin, and has become an internationally recognized leader in rural development, currently serving as President of the international Community Development Society. Connie has previously served as President of Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program (from which she is a program graduate) and Wisconsin Rural Partners, the state’s rural development council, on which she continues to serve as board member and one of two representatives for Wisconsin in the WK Kellogg Foundation’s Rural People Rural Policy Network initiative.
Connie was recently presented with the prestigious Ron Shaffer Award for Collaborative Leadership by the National Rural Development Partnership and Partners for Rural America, recognizing her outstanding contributions and commitment to making a difference for rural communities.
Connie consults as a community economic development specialist, having assisted communities in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The Community Progress Initiative program, developed in partnership with the Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County to revitalize their economically struggling community, has received award recognitions on state, national and international levels, including the 2008 IEDC Award for Multiple Year Projects.
Carol Lopucki
State Director
Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Centers
Grand Valley State University
Seidman College of Business
 Carol has worked numerous years in the non-profit, education, and government sector. She currently serves as the State Director for the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center, managing 12 regional and 30 satellite offices - providing no cost counsel, low cost training, and market research for Michigan's small businesses. In her 9th year as state director, the organization serves 12,000 new ventures, existing businesses, and innovators who are commercializing a technology. She has a B.A. in Education from Michigan State University and a M.A. from Central Michigan University. Carol has worked in the small business arena with SBA since 1991.
Carol serves on the Michigan District Export Council, Biotechnology Business Consultants LLC Advisory Board, and the Michigan Certified Development Corporation. She has just completed a ten-year tenure on the Board of Directors of Northview Public Schools in Grand Rapids, and a two-year term on the national board of the Association of Small Business Development Centers. Carol is an national accreditor for the ASBDC. She is a graduate of Leadership Grand Rapids, and is a recipient of the ATHENA leadership award, the ASBDC Michigan’s Star Performer Award, the Rotary International Paul Harris Award, and is one of West Michigan's "50 most influential women."
Kelly Lucas
President & CEO
The Community Foundation of South Wood County
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Kelly Lucas has served as President/CEO at Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County since 1996. The organization was established in 1994, and serves 50,000 people in a rural area of 200 square miles. During Lucas’ tenure the foundation has taken a leadership role in the community; emphasizing philanthropy’s role in community development by focusing on building social capital, fostering strategic philanthropy and investing in research and skill development. Most recently, the Community Foundation – along with its funding partners the Ford Foundation and the Barker Mead Fund – received a 2008 Critical Impact Award from the Council on Foundations, in recognition of their funding support and co-sponsorship of the Community Progress Initiative. This award recognizes grantmaking that has changed lives and communities for the better; serving as a model for others in philanthropy. Lucas has served on the Community Foundations Leadership Team (CFLT) of the Council on Foundations since July 2007; which includes service on the Field Engagement Action Team and CFLT Strategic Planning Team.
Tino J. Mantella
President
Technology Association of Georgia
Atlanta, GA
 Tino Mantella joined TAG in September, 2004 as the organization's new President.
Mantella, prior to joining TAG, had amassed over 20 years of related experience leading two of the nations more prestigious volunteer-driven organizations - National Arthritis Foundation and YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
As President and CEO of two multifaceted and complex charities, he spearheaded agendas that led to the development of innovative new services, resulting in the facilitation of significant membership growth. In addition, Mantella’s track record reflects impressive results in fund raising, advocacy, and economic development. Since coming to TAG, Mantella has worked with a team of dedicated volunteers and staff to: build a prestigious board made up of 60 technology stakeholders; grow membership by more than 400%; and add a series of program and services that support TAG’s vision of educating, informing and uniting the technology community, while driving technology based economic development for Georgia.
Mantella serves on the board of Catholic Charities of Atlanta, and on the Executive Committee of Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), and is a past member of the Kellogg Board of Advisors.
Myron Martin
President
Las Vegas Performing Arts Center Foundation, Inc.
Las Vegas, NV
Lori J. Martinek
Owner & Principal
Presentation Plus
Cave Creek, AZ
 Lori Martinek’s experience in all aspects of the marketing equation has made her a sought-after branding strategist and community marketing expert. As the owner of Presentation Plus, an award-winning national marketing and public relations firm specializing in economic development and place branding, she works with state, county and municipal officials, public/private agencies and economic development groups to get their communities noticed — online and off.
Lori’s resume includes economic development and community marketing projects that have won top honors in IEDC and MAEDC competitions. She is well-versed in the world of media, with more than 20 years of experience as a freelance feature writer and columnist for business magazines and daily newspapers including the Northwest Herald, the Chicago Tribune and the Wisconsin State Journal
Lori is also a consultant to CEOs, elected officials, political candidates and community colleges. She has served as an SBDC Counselor in Illinois and Arizona and speaks at conferences across America on topics including online branding and marketing, media visibility, social networking and entrepreneurship. Her credits include the NFL Super Bowl Playbook for Small Business workshop in January 2008 with GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons. Her first book, Be the Bulb!, debuted in January 2009.
Honorable Geno Martini
Mayor
City of Sparks, NV
Sparks, NV
 Geno Martini has served as the 24th Mayor of the City of Sparks since February, 2005. Mr. Martini was appointed to the Sparks City Council representing Ward 3 in July, 1999 to complete an unexpired term. He was elected to a full term in June, 2001 and again in November, 2004. He was elected Mayor Pro Tem by the City Council in July, 2003 and served in that capacity until February 22, 2005 when he was sworn in as Mayor. Mr. Martini was elected to a full term in November, 2006.
As Mayor, Mr. Martini is currently presiding over unprecedented growth in the City of Sparks, Nevada’s fifth largest city, which is expected to hit a population of 100,000 by 2010. Under Mayor Martini’s tenure, the city has seen an additional one million square feet of retail businesses open. Additionally, in 2007, the city, together with RED Development, broke ground on a $1 billion project in the redevelopment area known as The Legends at Sparks Marina.
Mayor Martini currently serves on the Regional Planning Governing Board, Truckee Meadows Water Authority Board of Directors, Truckee River Flood Management Coordinating Committee, and the Debt Management Commission.
Mayor Martini is a life-long resident of Sparks, graduating from Sparks High School as Student Body President. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with a Bachelor of Science degree. He is retired following a 33-year career in the banking industry. Mayor Martini is a recipient of the Sparks Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award as well as the Sparks Chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is active in a number of civic organizations and has served as President of the Sparks Chamber of Commerce and President of the Bank Administration Institute.
Jeffrey C. Milanette
President
Innovative Partners Inc.
Westerfield, NJ
Jeffrey C. Milanette is President of Innovative Partners, Inc., a management consulting firm that guides organizations establishing business incubation programs and assisting technology entrepreneurs. Mr. Milanette has been involved in the business incubation industry since 1986 when he started and chaired the Board of the San Diego Incubator Corporation, the first business incubator in San Diego, California. Since then he has consulted on more than forty incubation related projects for clients such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; City of West Sacramento; New Jersey City University, Wayne County, Indiana; and the World Bank, analyzing incubator feasibility; market demand; business operations and planning; and conducting training of both incubator managers and entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur himself, Mr. Milanette was President and a founder of speakEZ, Inc., a Rutgers University spin-off company founded in 1992, that commercialized software designed for speaker identification and verification. SpeakEZ, Inc. was acquired by T-Netix, Inc., in 1g95. He is currently President of AuthX, Inc., a start-up software company.
Mr. Milanette is a member of the National Business lncubation Association, the New Jersey Business Incubation Network, New Jersey Technology Council, and IEDC. He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree, and has an MBA in Finance from the George Washington University.
Scott L. Millar, CEcD
President
Catawba County Economic Development Corporation
Hickory, NC
 Scott Millar has served the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation as its president since 1998. For four years prior he was the corporation’s Vice President for Recruitment. He is a current member of the Charlotte Regional Partnership’s board of directors and Vice-Chair of the Partnership’s Economic Developers Advisory Committee. He is past President of the North Carolina Economic Developer’s Association & was a member of its board of directors for seven years. In addition, he is a past member of the North CarolinaEconomic Development Board. Millar has been published in the primary journal for the economic development industry, The Economic Development Review and has presented at national economic development conferences on best practices in the use of GIS.
Among notable accomplishments for Catawba County in 2008, Millar successfully recruited Williams-Sonoma (820 jobs), Convergys (446 jobs), and Turbotec (25 jobs). In addition, 2008 saw expansion of Poppelmann Plastics, the completion of Target’s 1.6 million square foot distribution center (580 jobs), the development of Catawba County’s award-winning Eco-Complex, completion of speculative facilities in Claremont,Hickory, and a 185 acre multi-jurisdictional business park focusing on data centers and mission-critical facilities.
Millar received the professional designation of Certified Economic & Community Developer in 1996. Prior to accepting his current position, he was employed with the NC Department of Commerce and spent 5 years in the advertising field. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He and his wife Mary live in Hickory.
Roger Nesti
Director, Corporate Real Estate
Avery Dennison
Brea, CA
Leanne Nurse
Program Analyst
US EPA, National Center for Environmental Innovation
Mark O’Connell
Chief Executive Officer
OCO Global
Belfast, Irelend
 Mark O’Connell is Chief Executive Officer and founder of OCO, the leading authority on foreign direct investment (FDI). Mark directly advises CEOs on corporate location decisions and the Boards of EDOs such as UK Trade and Investment, Invest Sweden Agency, Enterprise Ireland, Invest in Italy, New Pennsylvania and Enterprise Florida.
Since 2001, OCO, under Mark’s leadership, has evolved to become a recognised source of intelligence and advisory services on foreign investment, and Mark is regularly quoted as an expert FDI commentator by FT, WSJ, Economist, Bloomberg, BBC and Reuters.
OCO employs over 40 professional staff across 6 offices in 3 continents and covers all major FDI markets and sectors. In April 2008, the Financial Times acquired two of OCO’s monitoring and benchmarking tools -OCO Monitor and OCO Assess – a testament to the credibility of OCO and its products in the global marketplace.
Mark has worked extensively in investment attraction in North America, Europe and Asia and has cultivated in-depth networks, and knowledge of doing business in these areas. His strategic consulting in the global FDI market has included inward investment, market entry, acquisition support, distributor searches, corporate location and offshore investment evaluation.
Douglas Rothwell
President
Detroit Renaissance
Detroit, MI
 Doug Rothwell has been President of Detroit Renaissance since 2005. During Doug’s tenure he has led the development of the region’s first economic growth strategy, the Road to Renaissance. This six-point plan is the most comprehensive initiative launched in Detroit Renaissance’s history, having raised well over $70 million in corporate investments to date. Other work Doug has been involved with includes helping found One D, a collaboration of the region’s major civic organizations; advocating for structural reforms in state finances; and raising corporate leadership in the region. Prior to joining Detroit Renaissance, Doug served as Executive Director of Worldwide Real Estate for General Motors overseeing the largest private sector property portfolio in the world with 400 million square feet of real estate. Doug also founded and served as President and Chief Executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Doug holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware and attended the John F. Kennedy School’s residential program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University. He is one of a handful of state executives to be honored with the National Governors’ Association’s outstanding public service awards.
Don C. Schjeldahl
Vice President & Director
Austin Consulting
Cleveland, OH
Sharon D. Sewell
Vice President, Workforce Development Services
Wadley-Donovan GrowthTech, LLC
Springfield, NJ
Ms. Sewell is the vice-president of workforce development services for Wadley-Donovan GrowthTech, LLC, a Wadley-Donovan Group company offering economic development, workforce development, and related consulting services.
At WDG, Ms. Sewell brings her comprehensive senior management experience and skills in strategic planning, business development, program development and implementation to focus on the development of workforce-development services and initiatives.
Before joining WDG, Ms. Sewell was the Interim Executive Director of the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), where she was responsible for strategic planning, business and membership development, administering and directing programs and projects, monitoring policy and strengthening advocacy efforts, and advising the Board of Directors, among other functions.
As NAWB’s Senior Director of Marketing, she directed the organization’s overall marketing, communications, and membership programs, and conducted research for product development and policy analysis; comprehensive communication strategies, and effective capacity-building initiatives.
Sharon also oversaw education and training programs that involved conducting needs assessments; developing plans, procedures and presentations; and program evaluation.
Prior to her tenure with NAWB, Ms Sewell served as a consultant to Building Managers and Owners Institute (BOMI) researching international business expansion; the coalition coordinator for the New York City Employment and Training Coalition; New York’s Consortium for Worker Education to establish a Technical Skills Training Center; and at NYATEP Inc, where she managed the development and delivery of technical assistance and training to state and local workforce organizations.
Roel Spee
Global Leader
Plant Location International (PLI)
Global Location Strategies
IBM Global Business Services
Brussels, Belgium
 Roel Spee is an associate partner with IBM Global Business Services and global leader of the PLI-Global Location Strategies service (aka IBM-PLI). He has over 20 years of experience as location strategy and economic development consultant.
Over the course of his career, he has built up huge expertise in advising international companies in location choices for a broad variety of industries and investment projects. He assisted corporate executives from international companies around the world with their strategic location choices for over 300 projects. Besides being a key advisor to IBM internally, external clients include over 200 companies such as Bayer, Citibank, Procter & Gamble, Shell, Sony, Toyota, Unilever, and many other leading global companies and fast growing companies in new emerging industries.
Moreover, Roel is one of the very few consultants globally that is able to leverage his broad pragmatic experience working directly with international companies in their location selection projects for advising investment promotion and economic development agencies: developing and implementing both marketing strategies to attract new and retain present businesses, as well as economic development strategies for improving business conditions in their regions. Customers worked for include over 100 public sector organizations as well as public-private partnerships worldwide. Many of these were assisted with multiple engagements leading to a total of over 300 economic development projects globally.
Eric Stavriotis
Vice President
Jones Lang LaSalle
Chicago, IL
 Eric Stavriotis is a Vice President in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Strategic Consulting group. Mr. Stavriotis is a member of the Global Location Solutions group and leads Jones Lang LaSalle’s Economic Incentives practice, having negotiated more than $800 million in incentives for projects involving over $2.5 Billion of investment. Clients include Cisco, Comcast, Monster, Firmenich, Gentex, X-Rite, and Robert Bosch.
Mr. Stavriotis works with clients to proactively identify opportunities to deliver value from real estate. Specializing in Corporate Strategy, Mr. Stavriotis works closely with our Energy and Sustainability Solutions group as well as our Industrial teams and is responsible for analyzing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of alternative site locations and making recommendations based on project specifications and investment benchmarks.
Mr. Stavriotis is the author and a frequent contributor to several business publications, including Area Development Magazine, Commercial Property News, Financial Times, Business Facilities, Real Estate Forum and Shopping Centers Today. Mr. Stavriotis earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School. He holds a bachelor of science in Finance and Marketing from Miami University.
Mark M. Sweeney
Senior Principal
McCallum Sweeney Consulting
Greenville, SC
 Mark Sweeney is a Senior Principal with McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC), providing site selection services and economic development consulting to companies and organizations worldwide. MSC clients include Sallie Mae, LM Glasfiber, PACCAR, Austal, Boeing, TVA, Nissan, Dollar General, Michelin and Oreck.
With more than eighteen years experience in site selection and economic development, Mr. Sweeney assists companies identifying, evaluating and selecting the optimal location for their capital investments. Mr. Sweeney also provides consulting services to leading economic development organizations across the United States in such areas as strategic planning and organizational design, site certification, adaptive reuse, target industry programs, incentive strategies and sustainable development strategies.
Mr. Sweeney has assisted clients in a wide variety of industries, from automotive manufacturing to software development and internet services. Recent clients include Sallie Mae (credit operations center), Nissan (headquarters; auto assembly; engine; warehouse), Michelin (tire; rubber; warehouse), and Oreck (cleaning equipment; headquarters). Of particular note is the Nissan automotive assembly plant that located near Jackson, MS in November 2000 and the Nissan headquarters that announced for Nashville TN in 2006. Economic development clients include TVA, the States of Pennsylvania and Tennessee, Duke Energy, Southern California Edison and Mississippi Power.
Keith Swerdfeger
President, retired
Pueblo Economic Development Corporation
Pueblo, CO
 Keith Swerdfeger served as Interim President of the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation during the recruitment of the Vestas project in 2008. Keith was chairman of the PEDCO board in 2007 and agreed to step in when the president’s post was vacated.
Keith is President/CEO of Swerdfeger Construction, Inc., which he founded in 1968. The company specializes in infrastructure development including underground utilities, repair and renewal of existing infrastructure, and a number of state-of-the-art trenchless technologies.
Recognized as 2008 Citizen of the Year by the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, Keith has been active in economic and civic activities in Pueblo. A PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN editorial stated “This is an especially appropriate time to name Mr. Swerdfeger Citizen of the Year following his recent service as the Pueblo Economic Development Corp.'s interim president during negotiations to bring the Vestas wind tower plant to Pueblo. The community owes a debt of gratitude to him and his colleagues.”
Pamela Tate
President & CEO
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Chicago, IL
Alessandro Teixeira, PhD
President
Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil)
World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA)
Brazil
 Alessandro Golombiewski Teixeira holds a PhD in Technological and Industrial Competitiveness from the University of Sussex, England, and a master's degree in Latin American Economics from the University of São Paulo.
He took part in the creation and later presided the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development – ABDI, was the Coordinator of the Industrial, Technological and Foreign Trade Policy of the Brazilian Federal Government, and Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Council for Industrial Development – CNDI, as well as Counselor for the Sectorial Funds of the Ministry of Science and Technology – MCT.
Currently, Alessandro Teixeira is the President of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency – Apex-Brasil. And since April, 2008, he also holds the presidency of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies – WAIPA – the organization that gathers the investment promotion agencies (IPAs) of 156 countries.In 2008, Alessandro Teixeira was nominee as “Personality of the Year 2008”, by the respected english newspaper Financial Times.
Additionally, he acts as Executive Secretary of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO Brazil-UK) and of the US-Brazil CEO Forum and as Counselor of the Brazilian Bank for Economic and Social Development – BNDES and of the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises – National SEBRAE.
He has wide international experience, having been a consultant in Business Development for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Health System (NHS) of the British Government, and consultant in Technological Development for the International Academy of Science, in Paris. Directed the Foreign Affairs area of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. He also worked in the academic area, as Professor and Researcher of International Marketing, E-Commerce and Industrial Economy of the University of Sussex, in England, and in the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
He was awarded by the Sasakawa Foundation of Japan with the title "Young Leader". Also in the private sector, he was director of Research and Market of Divisions LTD., of England, and manager of exportations in the textile and clothing segment and economic consultant for the Foundation Institute of Economic Studies (FIPE).
Michael Toro
Director of Business Development & Strategy
Schott North America Inc.
Elmsford, NY
Jessica Tuquero
Account Supervisor
Development Counsellors International
New York, NY
Jessica joined DCI in 2006 and has implemented successful marketing campaigns for clients in the regional, state and international levels. Recent successes include placements in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and U.S. News & World Report.
In 2007, Jessica also assumed the role of leading the company’s social media marketing services for our active client roster. Since then, she has played a pivotal role in the strategic development and implementation of clients’ place marketing in both economic development and tourism via the online and social media space.
Prior to DCI, she was an employee with Rubenstein Public Relations, a firm based in New York City, where she worked on a variety of accounts including real estate, biotechnology, nanotechnology and consumer products.
She’s a graduate from New York University, with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and economics.
Lorie Vincent, CEcD
Executive Director
The High Ground of Texas
Stratford, TX
Lorie Vincent serves as the Executive Director of The High Ground of Texas. The High Ground is a regional coalition of over100 communities and organizations involved in the marketing and economic development of the West Texas region. The High Ground, organized since 1987, covers a 60+ county area. Before becoming the first Executive Director of the High Ground in 1999, Lorie served as the Executive Director of the Sherman County Development Committee, Inc. where she developed an award-winning economic development program that received numerous honors including recognition in the Wall Street Journal. Lorie is a Director of the Texas Panhandle Regional Development Corporation and the West Texas A&M University Foundation Board. She is on the Executive Committee of the Texas Economic Development Council and currently serves as Treasurer. She has served on many statewide and national Boards including the Leadership Texas Alumni Association and the Professional Speakers of the Southwest. She is a Master Graduate III with Rapport Leadership International and is certified to train on many topics. Prior to the moving back to the Texas Panhandle, Lorie resided in the San Antonio area. Lorie holds a BBA in Accounting with a minor in Finance, and is a Certified Economic Developer. She is married to Matt Vincent and they have one daughter, Mazie Rae.
Robert W. Walsh
Commissioner
New York City Department of Small Business Services
New York, NY
 Robert W. Walsh was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) by Mayor Bloomberg in January 2002. During his tenure, he has redefined how the City serves and responds to the needs of the City’s 220,000 small businesses.
SBS has invigorated the City's 62 Business Improvement Districts– the largest network of BIDs in the country. Under Walsh’s leadership, SBS has enhanced the delivery of technical assistance and incentives to NYC's small businesses through NYC Business Solutions and launched online tools through NYC Business Express to make starting, operating and expanding a business simple and easy. SBS has also energized the City’s promotion and support of minority- and women-owned businesses and reconfigured the City’s workforce development initiatives, which the Mayor merged with SBS in July 2003.
Prior to his appointment, Walsh spent five years in North Carolina as President of Charlotte Center City Partners, an organization dedicated to improving and growing Charlotte’s central business district. From 1989 to April 1997, he led the Union Square Partnership, where he played a key role in the neighborhood's revitalization. During the 1980's, he worked in the administration of Mayor Edward I. Koch.
Ray Watson
Executive Director
Windcrest Economic Development Corporation
Windcrest, TX
 Ray Watson has served as the Executive Director of the Windcrest Economic Development Corporation since June 2006. In this position, he has been tasked with spearheading redevelopment efforts in the business district of Windcrest, which is positioned along the Walzem Road corridor. He was instrumental in the efforts to get Rackspace Managed Hosting’s corporate headquarters located at the former Windsor Park Mall and for this effort; Windcrest EDC received best Real Estate Project of the Year for 2008. Watson was also named one of San Antonio Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” winners in 2007. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Texas A&M University in Agricultural Development and Agricultural Education with an emphasis in Economics, respectively. He also graduated from the Oklahoma University Economic Development Institute, a three-year program certified by the International Economic Development Council. Prior to joining the City of Windcrest, Watson served as Executive Director of the Ruston Economic Development Corporation and the Ouachita Economic Development Corporation, both in Louisiana, and prior to holding those positions he headed the Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Association. Outside of work, Watson serves as a member of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s BioEnergy Initiative, Texas Economic Development Council’s Education Committee, International Economic Development Council, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Leadership Council at Texas A&M University, Exhibits Committee of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, Windcrest Lion’s Club and Rotary International. His wife, Dr. Susan Watson, is a research economist at Northeast Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, and they have two children, Hanna Catherine, 2 year, and Reagan Ashley, 4 years.
Steven W. Weathers, CEcD
President & CEO
Regional Growth Partnerships
Toledo, OH
 Steve Weathers has been President & CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP) since September of 2005; in addition, Steve leads Rocket Ventures as its President & Managing Director. Since Steve's arrival at RGP, the organization, working in conjunction with its many partners in the region, has taken a leadership role that has lead to the creation of more than 4,000 new high-paying, high-skilled jobs in the region. Steve also led the effort to create the region's first ever pre-seed venture fund, Rocket Ventures. Rocket Ventures is a $22.5 million early-state investment fund comprised of $7.5 million of private investment capital, as well as a $15 million grant from the State of Ohio.
Steve has been in economic development for almost 20 years, with 11 of those years in San Diego, California as Vice President of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation and 5 years in Tucson, Arizona as President of the Greater Tucson Economic Corporation.
Through the years, Steve has been involved in the attraction, retention, growth and start-up of more than 500 companies. Some of his most significant and notable successes during his economic development career have been the attraction of the Novartis Genomic Research Center, Gateway Computers headquarters, the LEGO Theme Park and the SPAWAR Defense headquarters to the San Diego region, as well as the attraction of the GEICO, Citigroup and Intuit Software national service centers to the Tucson region.
Steve is also actively involved with the venture capital community, having raised more than $75 million dollars, as well as investing in numerous start-up companies over the years.
Prior to economic development, Steve held various senior management positions with the financial firms of Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Bank at their west coast headquarters located in San Francisco and San Diego, California
Very active in the regional, state, and national economic development policy, Steve sits on numerous boards, including the International Economic Development Council, the CORENET Global Midwest Region Board of Directors, the State of Ohio Strategic Planning Committee and the Science & Technology Corridor Operating Committee.
Steve is a regular speaker at conferences and has conducted numerous seminars on the subject of economic development over the years, as well as having taught graduate and undergraduate courses on the subject at the University of Arizona.
He is a graduate of California State University at Chico and holds a National Certification in Economic Development (CEcD).
Dr. Stephen G. Wells
President
Desert Research Institute
Reno, NV
 Dr. Stephen G. Wells, President of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the Nevada System of Higher Education, oversees one of the world's largest multidisciplinary environmental research organizations with approximately 500 scientists, technologists, students, and other support staff. Since 1999, Wells has served as the chief executive officer, overseeing the growth of institutional revenues from $23.8 million per year to greater than $60 million, as well as state-of-the-art research campuses in both Las Vegas and Reno, as well as satellite research stations in Boulder City, Nevada; at the Sierra Nevada College near Lake Tahoe; and at 10,500 ft elevation near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Dr. Wells leads three core divisions and four interdisciplinary science centers that serve Nevada and every continent, focusing on: air, land, life and water.
He is a graduate faculty member in the Hydrologic Sciences Program and Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno and is an adjunct research professor at the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xi’an, China. Dr. Wells has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and edited six volumes in the earth sciences, and he has received three national awards from the Geological Society of America.
William F. Wescott, PhD
Managing Director, Advisory Services
Cleantech Group LLC
Woodinville, WA
 Dr. Wescott is an internationally recognized expert in sustainable development, having worked over 20 years with public and private sector clients on sustainable development initiatives throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. He is the Managing Director of Advisory Services at the Cleantech Group and has extensive experience evaluating clean technologies and new venture opportunities. Dr. Wescott has worked on many economic development projects, developing strategies and identifying clean technology partners and investors. He has served as an advisor to the leadership of a number of organizations including the Romanian (member of the UNCED/Earth Summit delegation), Italian, Mexican, Brazilian, and U.S. governments, US state governments (NJ, NY, CA), UNIDO, the Sustainable Performance Group Investment Fund, PROPEL (Board Director), The Conference Board, The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, The Institute of the Americas, and World Resources Institute. Dr. Wescott was an environment, health and safety consulting director at Arthur D. Little, Inc. where he worked for 15 years with over 100 clients across all sectors on 5 continents in 4 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian). He has a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon and BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton.
Terry Whipple
President/Executive Director
7 Rivers Region/Juneau County EDC
Camp Douglass, WI
 Terry Whipple is the Executive Director of Juneau County Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) and President of the 7 Rivers Region. He has an extensive background in business development. Terry received the SBA’s Region V and Wisconsin 2005 Home-Based Business Champion of the Year Award. He also received the Wisconsin 2005 Innovation Champion Award for the development of innovative new programs as well as the 7 Rivers Region Pyramid Award. He has served as an independent business consultant specializing in work with distressed small businesses and currently maintains his own private consulting business. He lives in rural Tomah, WI with his wife and 3 daughters.
Daniel L. Wiles
Principal
Fieldman Rolapp and Associates
Irvine, CA
Mr. Daniel L. Wiles, Esq., Principal and General Counsel of Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates, has been active in public finance since 1982 and has over 26 years experience in the field of public finance as both a financial advisor and a public finance attorney. His experience includes a broad range of analysis and transactions relating to general obligation, revenue and lease backed financings for general governmental operations (including pension and employee benefits), utilities, transportation, capital improvements and higher education facilities. Dan represents state agencies, cities, counties and special districts as financial advisor.
Mr. Wiles began his career as a public finance attorney in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado from 1982 to 1990. He was a Vice President with Evensen Dodge, Inc, a national financial advisor, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1993, he was a founder and Principal of FWW Financial, Ltd., a regional public finance advisor. He joined Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates, in Irvine, California, as Principal in 2002.
Mr. Wiles received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts and received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Tim Williamson
Co-Founder/CEO
The Idea Village
New Orleans, LA
 Tim Williamson is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Idea Village, a private, independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2000 with a mission to identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans.
An entrepreneur by trade and by training, Mr. Williamson has successfully started and operated five entrepreneurial ventures in four different cities and has been a steadfast advocate for making New Orleans a vibrant entrepreneurial community. Mr. Williamson is a frequent speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Williamson’s entrepreneurial passion and persistence is contagious as in leadership roles that include the State of Louisiana Small Business and Entrepreneurship Commission, City Year Board of Directors, the National Conference for Community and Justice Advisory Committee, among others.
A graduate of the Stanford University Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders, New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute, and CABL’s Louisiana Leadership program, Mr. Williamson was honored among CityBusiness“ Power Generation” ,Gambit “40 under 40” and 2009 YLC Role Model. Mr. Williamson also earned the Junior Achievement Rising Star Award and received “Heroes of the Storm” award in 2008.
Mr. Williamson received a B.S.M. in Finance from Tulane University in 1987.
Brian J. Wishneff
President
Brian Wishneff & Associates
Roanoke, VA
 Mr. Wishneff, who consults on a full range of governmental, development and economic planning issues, attended Virginia Tech, earning a B.A. in Political Science in 1975 and an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning in 1977. Past positions include Director of the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission and Chief of Economic Development for the City of Roanoke, VA. Mr. Wishneff is married with three children.
Brian Wishneff & Associates has successfully completed more historic tax credit projects for non-profits and governmental entities than any other consultant in the country. Our years of experience working with projects totaling millions of dollars in rehabilitation gives us the expertise needed to guide your project smoothly and efficiently through the process of qualifying for and receiving historic tax credits. Because every project is unique, we provide a wide range of consulting services and the flexibility to provide you with just those services you need. Whether you need a comprehensive project developer or just a tax credit investor for your project, we can put renovation within reach for you. We also have extensive experience in the completion of large scale hotel and conference centers. These projects have involved both renovation and new construction and have included privately and publicly owned hotels.
Diana J. Wong, PhD, CPLP, MBA
CEO & President/Associate Professor
Sensei Change Associates, LLC/Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI
 Dr. Diana J. Wong is faculty member of Eastern Michigan University and the President & CEO of Sensei Change Associates, LLC, a management consulting firm focusing on effective strategic change from the individual to the organizational levels. She received her PhD in strategy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dr. Wong and her associate, Barbara Koenig, are the creators of Shifting Gears and partner with Spark Ann Arbor to delivery the five month program that focuses on transitioning corporate professionals from large organizations to support the growth of small dynamic innovative businesses to the next level. Her areas of expertise include strategic planning, organizational change, and leadership development to for effective strategy execution. Her recent publication is an edited volume with Dr. Eric H. Kessler of Pace University, Cultural Mythology and Global Leadership. She provides a international perspective on economic development with work and educational experiences in China, Papua New Guinea, Norway, India, and Canada. Dr. Wong is active in a number of professional organizations that include serving as President and Board Member of the American Society of Training and Development, Ann Arbor, 2005-2008, and Conference Track Chair for Human Resources/Careers of the Midwest Academy of Management. Dr. Wong teaching experiences encompasses strategic management, entrepreneurship, leadership, organization development and change, team work, international management, research methods.
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