With public sector funding becoming uncertain, local economic development organizations are shifting from a government centered function to a shared enterprise where business, government, and community partners are moving in-sync. Yet many historically solely publicly-funded EDOs still struggle to articulate what a true public private partnership looks like in practice — how it’s structured, how it’s funded, and how it earns the confidence of investors who expect discipline, transparency, and measurable outcomes.

In this session, we’ll explore how EDOs can position themselves as credible, investable public private partnerships by aligning governance, strategy, and funding around a unified value proposition. Drawing on Resource Development Group, a Convergent Company’s national work with chambers, EDOs, and regional initiatives, we’ll break down what high performing P3s do differently: how they engage the private sector as genuine strategic partners, how they build board structures that reinforce accountability, how they use data, benchmarking, and investor ready messaging to secure long term support, and what you can work on now to position yourself to be a public-private partnership. 

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Speakers

Clint R. Nessmith
Principal
Resource Development Group

Clint brings over 20 years of fundraising experience to his role as Principal of Resource Development Group, A Convergent Company.  He has managed numerous successful funding campaigns, provided consulting services around industry best-practices, and facilitated cross-ecosystem collaboration for economic development organizations and chambers of commerce, in markets of all sizes throughout the US. 

In addition to his long career with RDG, Clint served as Director of Development at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA, Director of Major Gifts at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA and Project Manager for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s Forward Atlanta campaign.  

Clint earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and a minor in Communication Arts from Georgia Southern University in 1999.  
 
Clint resides in Statesboro, GA with his wife Elizabeth and is incredibly proud of their four children.