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From The Ground Up: Feat. Todd Battle of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance

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Todd BattleTodd Battle is the president of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, a position he has held for the past 11 years. Todd is a high energy, well-rounded economic development professional with considerable experience leading, managing and growing results-oriented economic development organizations.

Within the past two years alone, the Alliance has worked to secure several major, competitive projects that account for more than 4,000 jobs and $800 million in new private investment in Kenosha County, WI. Amazon, InSinkerator, Kenall Manufacturing, Meijer, Niagara Bottling and ULINE are among the firms that are starting or growing operations in Kenosha County.

Prior to joining Kenosha, Todd was the president and chief executive officer of Muskegon Area First and the executive director of Dickinson Area Economic Development Alliance.

Todd has recently been recognized by DCI as a “40 under 40 Rising Star in economic development” and has previously received similar recognition from the Business Journal of Milwaukee.

Todd received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Central Michigan University, where he majored in political science (public administration concentration) and minored in economics. He’s also completed graduate level business courses at Grand Valley State University.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Victor Smith of the State of Indiana

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Victor SmithVictor Smith is the Secretary of Commerce for the State of Indiana. In this role, Victor is a member of Governor Mike Pence’s cabinet and leads the state’s domestic and international economic development agenda. He serves as the head of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), the State of Indiana’s lead economic development agency.

Victor’s January 2013 appointment as Secretary of Commerce follows a 17-year career of operations, sales and executive positions, including chief executive officer of CDS Engineering, a precision manufacturing company with locations in the United States, United Kingdom and Asia. With approximately 500 employees, the firm primarily serves the semiconductor capital equipment industry.

Victor has served as an aide to Vice President Dan Qualye and Senator Dan Coats. Governor Mike Pence believes that Victor’s knowledge and experience working with Asian, Pacific Rim and West Coast businesses are crucial in leading the Hoosier State’s job creation efforts and strengthening Indiana’s reputation as a premier state for business.

A native of Muncie, Indiana, he currently resides in Indianapolis with his wife, Kathleen, and their three children. Victor is a graduate of Colgate University and earned his law degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

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An Inside Look: Feat. Frank Spano of Austin Consulting

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Frank SpanoFrank Spano is the managing director of Austin Consulting, where he has worked for almost 30 years. In that time, Frank has served as site location consultant, associate director, director and now managing director. In this role, Frank is developing new strategies to increase The Austin Company’s leadership in food and beverage, nutraceuticals and other manufacturing sectors.

Frank also serves as a senior project manager, directs site location studies with the Austin Consulting staff and continues to conduct detailed field investigation analyses for clients. Frank has worked on behalf of clients in conducting incentive negotiations with state and local governments and completing comprehensive property due diligence services for Greenfield sites and existing buildings. Frank has represented clients on projects throughout urban and rural areas throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

Prior to joining The Austin Company, Frank worked for a commercial real estate appraiser for a private real estate consulting firm. Frank was also employed as a consultant for Thompson Associates, the nation’s leading retail site location firm.

Frank is a writer for many publications including Food Processing and Area Development and is a frequent presenter on the topic of “Understanding Your Labor Market – How to Prepare Your Community for the Consultants Visit.”

Frank received a Bachelor of Science in business administration and marketing and a Master of Arts in economic geography from Kent State University.

 

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Lynn Myers of Denver South Economic Development Partnership

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Lynn MyersLynn Myers is the vice president of economic development for the Denver South Economic Development Partnership.  Since joining Denver South EDP, Lynn has had the opportunity to work with expanding companies in the region including Charles Schwab, Arrow Electronics, TriZetto, Polystrand, Connextions, Blockbuster/DISH, Comcast and Trulia.

Prior to joining Denver South EDP in 2007, Lynn served as an Arapahoe County Commissioner for seven years. Lynn is the past chair of the Centennial Airport Board and the E-470 Public Highway Authority Board.

Lynn serves on the Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Board and on the Board of Developmental Pathways. She served as president of the Aurora Association of Realtors, vice president of Governmental Affairs for the Colorado Association of Realtors for three years and was a director of the National Association of Realtors for six years.

Lynn is also a big Colorado Rockies baseball fan, loves to travel and is a graduate of Montana State University.

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An Inside Look: Feat. Larry Gigerich of Ginovus

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Larry GigerichLarry Gigerich, managing director at Ginovus, is a nationally recognized economic development leader with more than 20 years of local and state government, not-for-profit and private sector experience. Larry has worked on approximately 500 economic development projects resulting in over $10 billion of capital investment, the creation of over 80,000 new jobs and the retention of over 160,000 existing jobs. At Ginovus, Larry has served nationally recognized companies such as: BP, Coachman Industries, Comcast, Dorel Juvenile Group, Dow AgroSciences, ExactTarget, Formica, Genesco, Interactive Intelligence, Multi-Color Corporation, Oracle, Reckitt Benckiser, Redcats, The Capital Group Companies, The Finish Line and Roche Diagnostics.

Prior to founding Ginovus in 2002, Larry worked in a variety of economic development settings, including Deputy Director of Business Development for the Indiana Department of Commerce, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of the City of Indianapolis for Economic Development and Workforce Development and President of the Indianapolis Economic Development Corporation.

Named by Governing magazine as one of the nation’s best economic development officials, Larry is a regular speaker and panelist at national site selection conferences and has authored numerous articles for national publications. In addition, he was instrumental in the launch and leadership of the Indianapolis and Central Indiana Technology Partnership (TechPoint), an initiative designed to nurture growing and emerging technology companies throughout Indiana.  Larry currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and is a member of the Site Selectors Guild.

Larry received his Bachelors of Science degree in political science from Indiana University Bloomington.

 

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Kenny McDonald of Columbus 2020

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Kenny McDonaldKenny McDonald serves as the primary leader of all economic development and business attraction efforts for the 11-county Columbus Region in his position as chief economic officer of Columbus 2020. Kenny has an extensive background in site selection, regional economic development, community marketing, business recruitment and international business development.

Kenny holds the professional designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and serves as an elected member of the Board of Directors for the International Economic Development Council. In addition, he serves locally on the boards of Columbus Crew, MidAmerican Global Ventures, NAIOP, SciTech and Transportation Research Center.

Previously, Kenny served as the executive vice president of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, a public-private economic development organization covering a 16-county region in North and South Carolina. Kenny’s 16 years of economic development experience also include leadership positions at the Albuquerque Economic Development Corporation, Fluor Daniels Global Locations Strategies and the Savannah Economic Development Authority.

Kenny received a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Dickinson State University and a Master of Public Administration from Georgia Southern University.

Kenny writes weekly about economic development and Columbus 2020’s activities on the Columbus Region blog, Economic Development Matters.

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An Inside Look: feat. Eric Stavriotis of CBRE

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Eric StavriotisEric Stavriotis is a senior vice president in the Chicago Occupier Practice Group and is a leader of CBRE’s Economic Incentive Solutions Group. Eric brings more than 13 years of experience working across North America and has negotiated more than $1 billion in incentives for clients. Eric has worked across all industry verticals and project types.

Prior to joining CBRE, Eric was a member of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Business and Economic Incentives Group, where he focused on site selection and incentive negotiations, incentive administration, labor strategy, location advisory, footprint configuration and overall real estate strategy.  Prior to his role at Jones Lang LaSalle, Eric served as director of consulting at Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. Eric’s responsibilities included acting as lead engagement manager for clients, performing location advisory, economic incentives negotiations and tenant representation services.

Eric 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.  ​Eric is a licensed Illinois real estate broker, a member of National Lekotek Ambassadors and also a board member for both AquaPro and Team Kick Cancer.

Eric received his Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing from Miami University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School.

 

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans, Inc.

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Michael HechtMichael Hecht is President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., the economic development organization for southeast Louisiana.  GNO, Inc.’s mission falls broadly into two categories:  business development – attracting and growing businesses – and product development – creating better business conditions.  Under Michael’s leadership, GNO, Inc. was recently named the #2 economic development organization in the United States by Business Facilities magazine.

Before coming to GNO, Inc. Michael led the quarter-billion dollar Katrina Small Business Recovery Program for the state.  Previous to coming home to Louisiana, Michael worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City as an Assistant Commissioner, running the post-9/11 small business program.

Michael’s entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding a conglomerate of restaurant ventures, including “Foreign Cinema,” named Restaurant of the Year 2000 in San Francisco.  He began his career as a strategic management consultant.

Michael holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and an undergraduate degree from Yale.

Recently Michael has been recognized as “One of the 25 Most Powerful People in the 10/12 Corridor,” and “One of the Top 50 Economic Developers in North America.”

With family roots in Louisiana back to the 1830s, Michael now lives in New Orleans with his wife, Marlene, an ESL professor at Delgado, and his two sons, Dexter and Kaj (“Kī”).

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From The Ground Up: Feat. David Ginn of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance

David Ginn

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David Ginn In his leadership role as president and CEO with the Charleston Regional Development Alliance (CRDA), David Ginn works closely with the region’s top business, academic and political leaders to shape and execute a comprehensive regional economic development strategy. He also leads the organization’s day-to-day efforts, and is directly involved with global business development and global marketing initiatives.

David has been with the CRDA since its inception, serving as the organization’s executive vice president and project director before being named president and CEO in 2000. A Certified Economic Development professional, he maintains keen awareness of current issues in economic development, thanks to affiliations with the International Economic Development Council and as past president of the S.C. Economic Developers Association. He has also held professional economic development and industrial marketing positions in Atlanta and Savannah.

David grew up in the Atlanta area, and holds a degree in economics and international business from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also studied abroad at the London School of Economics. He and his wife, Jean, live in Mount Pleasant with their two children.

 

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An Inside Look: feat. Minah Hall of True Partners Consulting

Minah Hall

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Minah HallMinah Hall is a managing director in True Partners Consulting’s Chicago office and specializes in negotiating incentives and financial incentives for companies changing their operations.  With over a decade of experience negotiating and implementing state and local tax credits and incentives for distribution and manufacturing facilities, data centers, back office/call center operations, retailers and corporate headquarter relocations, Minah excels at creating benefits for companies making extraordinary expenditures.

Prior to joining True Partners Consulting, Minah was a manager at two Big Four public accounting firms in Chicago.  Minah negotiated tax incentives for companies at every stage of development, from Fortune 500, mid-sized and start-up companies.  Minah also prepared cost burden analyses for various companies to help quantify the available opportunities and the cost/benefit comparisons of locating at specific sites. In addition to her client responsibilities, Minah actively participates in state-sponsored focus groups aiding the development of the jurisdictions’ incentives programs – specifically for Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Texas, Utah and the joint Kansas-Missouri effort focused on Kansas City. Her involvement and relationships with public sector officials makes her a valuable asset when advising corporate clients.

Minah is involved in the Institute of Professionals in Taxation, of which she is the overall education chair for Credits and Incentives and is a Certified Credits & Incentives Professional (CCIP), as well as a speaker for various conferences including Consultant’s Forum, Women in Economic Development Forum and the Chicago Tax Club. Minah serves on the executive board of the University of Illinois Real Estate Alumni Forum.

Minah received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  Minah is an active member of the Illinois State Bar.

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