David Griggs is President and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, the Hartford region’s business and economic development organization that drives economic prosperity through job retention and creation and promotes the Greater Hartford Region as an exceptional place to build a business, an industry, a career and a future. In this role, Mr. Griggs works with leaders of the region’s private-sector employers to ensure that the organization is strongly positioned to leverage economic development opportunities through planning, research, data and marketing. He also partners with public-sector decisionmakers to secure a financial base that will enhance the Alliance’s capacity to drive economic growth, retain jobs and create new ones in a variety of sectors for generations.

Prior to the Alliance, Mr. Griggs worked for more than seven years at the Greater Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) Regional Economic Development Partnership, a private-public nonprofit organization accelerating job growth and capital investment in 16 counties, where he served as Vice President, Business Investment and Research. Mr. Griggs led business outreach as well as the research efforts of the organization and commissioned several studies highlighting the business and talent assets of the MSP region with the purpose of attracting and retaining jobs and investment. During his tenure the organization worked on projects that created over 25,000 jobs while investing over $3.2 billion.

Mr. Griggs also served eight years with Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (Buffalo, N.Y.), the last four as Business Development Director, where he worked closely with site selectors, corporate and commercial real estate partners and other key professional advisors to build the regional economy while retaining existing companies and recruiting new ones. Much of his time was spent recruiting Canadian companies and assisting them enter into the US market. This Foreign Direct Investment work laid the groundwork for future FDI efforts in Minnesota and Connecticut.

Mr. Griggs holds a Bachelor of Science, Urban Planning and Regional Analysis, from the State University of New York, Buffalo State College, and a Master of Planning degree from the University at Buffalo and has achieved the CEcD professional certification through the International Economic Development Council as well as the EDFP certification through the National Development Council. David holds a seat on the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) as well as multiple local and regional boards.