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From The Ground Up: feat. Marty Vanags of the Indy Partnership

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Marty VanagsMarty Vanags assumed the position of Vice President for Regional Economic Development and Executive Director of the Indy Partnership, a business unit of the Indy Chamber, in February 2013. Marty leads a group of professional economic development staff whose mission is to market and promote the nine-county Indianapolis region as a place to invest and grow business. While in Indy, Marty has led a region that has consistently produced well over 10,000 jobs each year in the past two years with over $2 billion in capital investment.

Marty is a graduate of Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University (MPA) and has over 25 years of experience in community and economic development, private commercial real estate development and business management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). He has served as Chairman of the Illinois Development Council, Chair of International Economic Development Council Public Policy Advisory Committee and member of the same organization’s Economic Development Research Partners (EDRP). Marty has served two terms on the Illinois State University Alumni Board, and the Board of Advisors for the Means Center for Entrepreneurship at ISU’s College of Business. He also is a co-founder and creator of the Center for Emerging Entrepreneurs, a business incubation and development program at Illinois State University.

Marty co-founded the @Midwest Social Media Conference, and speaks and provides seminars on social media and its impact on economic development and non-profits. He has spoken at various venues and conferences on topics ranging from communication, leadership, change management, and data-use in economic development and community development. Under Marty’s leadership, the Bloomington Normal EDC and the Indy Partnership have received numerous accolades and awards for marketing, communication and economic development best practices.

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An Inside Look: feat. Rose Burden of Ernst & Young LLP

Rose Burden

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Rose BurdenRose Burden is an Executive Director and the Southeast Leader for the Business Tax Credit and Incentives Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, a US member firm of the global EY organization.

Rose assumes a leadership role in identifying business incentive opportunities for clients in the six-state region.  She has secured millions of dollars in savings for clients with facility or capital investment expansion projects.  Rose has also helped clients realize significant benefits in areas such as state and local grants, local property tax reductions, training program grants and tax credits, expedited permitting, reduced land costs, sales and use tax abatements, enterprise zone benefits, income tax credits, infrastructure grants and utility rate reductions.

Rose has more than 25 years of project management and economic development experience in local and statewide development.  She has served as the lead project manager on numerous corporate relocation and expansion projects in industry sectors such as financial services, telecommunications, technology, broadcasting and entertainment networks and manufacturing and distribution.

Rose has facilitated the approval of property tax and other incentives for more than 200 Fortune 100 projects in North America and globally.  She has an exceptional track record of establishing relationships and building support teams with key government officials and the private sector, delivering positive economic impact projects for clients and communities.  A primary goal is to maximize business incentives and bottom line savings for clients.

Prior to joining the firm, Rose directed economic development and corporate expansion programs for Fulton County (Atlanta based), and was a former senior site selection project manager for Oglethorpe Power Corporation.

Rose received her BS in Business and Marketing from Florida State University.  She is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute – University of Oklahoma.  Rose completed economic development certificate requirements from Georgia Institute of Technology.  She is a Real Estate Licensed Professional in the state of Georgia.

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From The Ground Up: feat. Rusty Brockman of The Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce

Rusty Brockman

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Rusty Brockman Rusty Brockman is the Director of Economic Development at The Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, where he has served for 14 years. Rusty retired from public education in 2001 after 28 years; 15 of those were with the Comal ISD as campus assistant principal, principal and central office administrator.  He spent the first 13 years of his career teaching life sciences, health, and physical education and coaching.

Rusty’s civic organization work includes Board member and Past President of the Wurstfest Association, New Braunfels Breakfast Lion’s Club President, Drive Chairman and Past President of United Way of Comal County, Advisory Board member of the Comal ISD Public School Foundation and Past President of the Canyon High School Athletic Booster’s.  Rusty was also named Citizen of the Year in 1993 by the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, 1992 Chair of the Board and 2011 Honors Hall Award recipient of the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce and received the Seven Seals Award from the Army National Guard in 2010.

In professional organizations, Rusty serves as Immediate Past President of the Executive Board of the Texas Economic Development Council, was appointed in 2011 by Governor Perry to the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority for a 6 year term, Chairman of the Austin/San Antonio Corridor Council Economic Development Committee, member of the Guadalupe Basin Coalition, Board member of the Central Texas Technology Center, Board member for the Alamo Area Academies Institute at Alamo Colleges and Board Secretary of The Center for Entrepreneurship in New Braunfels, Texas. Rusty is actively involved in continuing the development of higher education, workforce training and business development opportunities in New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas.

Rusty graduated from the University of Houston in 1974 with a BS in education, and in 1979 received his Masters in Education and Administrators Certification from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.  Rusty married M’Liss Probst in 1975 and moved to New Braunfels in 1986. They are parents to five children and have 4 grandchildren.

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An Inside Look: feat. Mike Bennett of Jones Lang LaSalle

Mike Bennett

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Mike BennettAs a Senior Vice President in the Business & Economic Incentives group at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Mike Bennett leads the execution of national and global site selection services with a focus and expertise in incentives negotiations and overall strategy.

Mike has over 15 years of experience in local and regional economic development, business attraction, location-based decision support, prospective site due diligence, as well as labor market evaluations.

Mike’s professional background represents a balance of public and private sector experience.  Prior to joining JLL, he was with Cushman & Wakefield Global Consulting where he was responsible for managing corporate site selection projects primarily in the warehouse, distribution and manufacturing sectors.

In addition to his work at Cushman & Wakefield, Mike was in community and regional economic development with the City of Glendale, Arizona and worked closely with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.  He is recognized as a key resource for state & regional economic development organizations looking to understand how to position their communities to compete for national projects.

Born in São Paulo and holding both Brazilian and U.S. citizenship, Mike spent 18 years in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, the Philippines and Singapore before relocating to the United States for university studies.  His international project experience includes work in Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Panama and Singapore.

Mike earned a bachelor of science in Regional Development from The University of Arizona in 1999.  In 2004, he completed The University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute program. He is also involved with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.  Mike has been a JLL “Young Gun” since 2013 and earned Gold Achiever honors in 2014.

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From The Ground Up: feat. Cecilia Harry of the Greater Freemont Development Council

Cecilia Harry

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Cecilia Harry Cecilia Harry is a master level economic development professional. Cecilia is active in promoting Fremont, NE and the Greater Omaha Area as a quality community for business location and expansion and a terrific place to call home. Cecilia’s specialties include business attraction, business retention and expansion, program design and evaluation, workforce development, support for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and public and member relations.

Prior to joining Fremont, Cecilia was the founder of Harry Development Strategies, LLC where she coached and supported career development. Cecilia was also the economic development coordinator for the Leavenworth County Development Corporation. While there, Cecilia expanded BRE program outreach, doubled count of businesses that received technical assistance, secured $42K in training grants for five companies to facilitate the creation/retention of jobs, designed and implemented internet marketing strategies and increased credibility and accessibility of the agency through consistent and genuine community outreach, relationship and trust building with stakeholders.

Cecilia is a board member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and is currently the vice chair of their External Relationship Committee. She led the efforts of the IEDC Young Professionals Task Force in 2014. She has been recognized by GISPlanning, Inc. and fDi Intelligence as a recipient of Economic Development Leadership Team Award for efforts related to nurturing young professionals in the economic development field. Her organization is successfully wrapping up a five-year private sector investment campaign that will increase her organizations programming budget by over 60%.

Cecilia received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and her Master of Social Work in social and economic development from Washington University in St. Louis. She is also a proud graduate of Oklahoma University’s Economic Development Institute.

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An Inside Look: feat. Brad Migdal of Transwestern

Brad Migdal

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Brad MigdalBrad Migdal is an Executive Managing Director in Transwestern’s Location Advisory and Economic Incentives Advisory Services practice. Brad has experience managing corporate site selection engagements, business incentives projects, and economic development consulting assignments.  His expertise is in the areas of domestic site selection and location analysis, economic incentives research and acquisition, and demonstrating the economic and fiscal impacts of a wide variety of projects to both corporations and governments. He specializes in working with state agencies and local municipalities in connection with negotiating incentive packages. Brad’s prior successful negotiations have included financing assistance and grants, job credits, training grants, sales and use tax benefits, property tax abatements, and other in-kind benefits.

Prior to joining Transwestern, Brad was a Managing Director in the Global Corporate Services, Consulting Division at Newmark, Grubb, Knight Frank. Brad also was a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Deloitte Tax LLP.

Brad is passionate about politics and social services. He supports Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE). He has also been an honored speaker at the North Eastern Strategic Alliance – South Carolina, NAIOP Wisconsin, Missouri Economic Development Council, Michigan Economic Developers Alliance, Mid America Economic Development Council and the Kansas City Area Development Council. Brad has also testified in front of legislative bodies regarding various economic issues. Brad serves on the Area Development Magazine Editorial Advisory Board and is an Advisor for Consultant Connect.

Brad received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL and his Masters of Law (LLM) from the Boston University School of Law.

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From The Ground Up: feat. Jeremy Vannatta of Big Sky Economic Development

Jeremy Vannatta

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Jeremy Vannatta Jeremy Vannatta is the director of Business Recruitment & Marketing for Big Sky Economic Development in Billings, Montana. He is the first point-of-contact with prospective businesses and facilitates the recruitment process in collaboration with internal and external resources and organizations. He also manages the overall marketing direction and public relations for the organization.

Prior to joining Big Sky Economic Development, Jeremy served as a Senior Marketing Manager for Macerich. He also held the post of vice president of the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce, and was the head of marketing for Thrifty Car Rental locations in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

Jeremy has been actively engaged in many non-profits throughout his community including the Montana State University Billings Alumni Association, American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity and many others. Jeremy and his wife, Haley, are publishers of Yellowstone Valley Woman magazine. He was selected as a 40 Under 40 Business Leader in his community, and has been recognized by the IEDC for his organization’s business recruitment and marketing efforts.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in media communications with an emphasis in marketing from Montana State University Billings.

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An Inside Look: feat. Kate McEnroe of Kate McEnroe Consulting

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Kate-McEnroeKate McEnroe formed her consulting company in 1993 in Chicago, and then relocated the business to Atlanta in 1994. From the start, Kate’s intention has been to keep the business small so that she can personally deliver the services she sells. Kate’s focus has been on corporate site selection assignments with expertise in labor-sensitive projects. She often monitors and evaluates her clients’ entire portfolio of locations with an eye toward determining the best opportunities to implement expansion and consolidation strategies. Kate also works with economic development organizations helping them refine their understanding of and presentation of workforce information and on optimizing their marketing efforts.

Prior to Kate McEnroe Consulting, Kate was vice president and principal with Fantus, the company that founded the field of location consulting. While at Fantus, she conducted corporate site selection studies and economic development projects in both New Jersey and Chicago. At the time, the norm was for location consultants to remain at arm’s length from the real estate transaction for the purposes of objectivity and that is the business model that Kate continues with today.

Kate is a Midwesterner, raised in Chicago and suburban Detroit, where her family still lives. She and her husband live in Atlanta, but enjoy downtown living in Chicago. She enjoys reading, quilting and a car-free lifestyle.

Kate attended Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan where she earned a business administration degree in economics and business. She then moved east to earn her masters of business administration at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia.

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From The Ground Up: feat. Beth Doughty of Roanoke Regional Partnership

Beth Doughty

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Beth DoughtyAfter beginning her career in advertising, Beth Doughty has spent the past 25 years in economic development helping to create more than 14,000 jobs and $1 billion of investment for the Roanoke region.

She has twice been executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership from 1991 to 1999 and since March 2008 to the present. She also serves as executive of the Roanoke Outside Foundation.

Beth also served as president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce for 9 years. She has lectured on economic development at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech, Roanoke College and was a visiting lecturer for the Mellon Foundation in the Czech Republic.

Beth is a graduate of the University of Virginia and a past president and a cardinal of the Virginia Economic Developers Association.

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From The Ground Up: feat. Michael Chrobak of Choose New Jersey

Michael Chrobak

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Michael Chrobak Michael Chrobak is the Chief Economic Development Officer for Choose New Jersey, Inc., an independently funded and operated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and nurture economic growth throughout the state of New Jersey, including a focus on making New Jersey’s most distressed cities engines for growth and opportunity.

Choose New Jersey, Inc. is one of three interconnected and highly focused organizations that comprise the New Jersey Partnership for Action, which is the centerpiece of the Christie-Guadagno administration’s economic development agenda. Michael is responsible for the business development and prospect management for Choose New Jersey and assists companies seeking to create jobs and make new capital investment in the global marketplace.

Prior to assuming his current post, Michael served as the chief financial officer for the Economic Development & Tourism division within the Office of Governor Rick Perry. He also served as the director of the Texas Economic Development Bank, where he created and developed the financial due diligence practices for economic development programs in the state of Texas.

Previously, Michael was the Founder and Managing Partner of C&L Advisors, a management strategy and education consulting services business. He has served in prior leadership positions as Senior Director of Dell Ventures; as director of corporate development, computer products and Internet services for Compaq Computer; and as Manager, Product Development and International Business Development for Texas Instruments.

Michael serves as a board member for First Southwest Securities US Treasury New Markets Tax Credits Program and contributing judge for Moot Court business plan competition at UT Austin McCombs School. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology, a Master of Business Administration from Texas Tech University and a Master of Arts in economics from Southern Methodist University.

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