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From The Ground Up: Feat. Gary Thompson of Regional Growth Partnership

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Gary ThompsonGary Thompson, CPA has had a career has ranging from accounting to sales to economic development. He began his career as an accountant in public service and then private industry for several years before he began to work in sales for a large architectural and engineering firm in Toledo, Ohio. Gary was recruited to an architectural firm in Farmington Hills, Michigan where he worked in business development. Returning to Ohio, he joined the Oregon Economic Development Foundation where he worked for five years.

In 2012, Gary was recruited to join the Regional Growth Partnership as executive vice president and manage the JobsOhio program for the Northwest Ohio Region as its director. He is the past marketing chair of the Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development Association (NORED) and past chair of the Toledo Metro Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) Communications Committee. Gary currently serves on the board of the Ohio Economic Development Association.

Gary is married to Dawn, an educator, and together they are raising three young men, Alec, Owen and Evan. Gary is a graduate of the University of Toledo.

 

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Doug Rasmussen formerly of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership

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Doug RasmussenDoug Rasmussen previously served as a Senior Vice President, Business Development at the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership where he oversaw business retention/expansion, business development and New Market Tax Credits. He successfully implemented 97 business retention/expansion projects resulting in 59,767 jobs created and retained and $2.7B in new capital investment.

Today, Doug is a Senior Associate in the St. Louis office and part of the Specialty Tax Service line of Duff & Phelps. He has 14 years of experience in economic development and real estate development in both the private and public sectors.

Doug specializes in the structuring and negotiating of business incentives and real estate development incentives that assist businesses in lowering their operating costs. He has extensive experience with tax abatement, TIF, NMTCs, special taxing districts, and other state and local incentive programs. Doug also has extensive experience with site selection and the site selection process.

Doug also previously worked for Green Street Development Group, where he raised over $47.0M in the public sector capital in support of Green Street’s development projects and end user clients. Key subsidies obtained included, TIF, New Markets Tax Credits, Ch99 and Ch100 Tax Abatement, Community Improvement Districts, Enhanced Enterprise Zone Tax Credits, MO BUILD Tax Credits, MO Development Tax Credits, MO Workforce Grants, and municipal level forgivable loans. And while at the St. Louis Regional Chamber, as the director of business recruitment, Doug managed the recruitment and site selection of over 2.6 million square feet and $454 million in new office and industrial projects.

Doug received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his M.A. from Saint Louis University. He is on the board of the Missouri Economic Development Council and is the Vice President of the Missouri Economic Development Finance Association.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. John Greuling of the Will County Center for Economic Development

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John Greuling 2John Greuling is the president and chief executive officer for the Will County Center for Economic Development. John has held this position for almost 15 years. John is also a WIB Board of Directors member, which is the workforce services division of Will County.

During the past 30 years, prior to joining the Will County CED in 2001, John managed the economic development program for the state of Colorado, directed community economic development initiatives in Colorado, Illinois and North Carolina and headed a private consulting firm providing location assistance to corporations.

John is the chairman of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Development Council and a founding Board Member for the Will County Community Foundation. John also enjoys playing guitar and reading.

John received his Bachelor of Science degree in philosophy from Illinois State University and a Master’s of Science in Community and Regional Planning from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Chris Chung of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina

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Chris ChungIn 2015, Christopher Chung joined the new Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) as Chief Executive Officer. As a public-private partnership, the EDPNC performs a number of economic development functions on behalf of the State of North Carolina, including new business recruitment, existing business support, international trade and export assistance, small business start-up counseling, and tourism, sports, and film promotion. With a staff of more than 60 professionals and an annual operating budget of $19 million, the EDPNC is focused on advancing the economic interests of North Carolina’s 100 counties and 10 million residents.

From 2007 to 2014, Chris served the Missouri Partnership as the public-private, non-profit corporation’s first Chief Executive Officer. In addition to leading the organization through its initial start-up phase, Chris directed the Partnership’s efforts to market Missouri for new business investment and recruit new corporate operations. During his tenure, the Missouri Partnership helped to recruit major facility investments by IBM, CertainTeed, Yanfeng Automotive Systems, Blue Buffalo Pet Foods, KWS Saat AG, and Aviation Technical Services.

Chris also previously served as Manager of the State of Ohio’s Office of Business Development, managing an $80 million annual incentives budget and leading Ohio’s front-line sales force dedicated to attracting new business investment and job creation to the state. Prior to that, Chris held various positions in corporate site selection and special projects management, assisting companies considering Ohio for new facilities.

Chris was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He attended The Ohio State University (OSU), graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a double-major in Japanese and economics, and has completed significant coursework towards a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management from the OSU John Glenn School of Public Affairs.

 

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Rachel Pierson Delamain of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber

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Rachel Pierson DelamainRachel serves as director of business development (consultant recruitment) at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) by driving business attraction initiatives and working with state and local officials, utilities and community foundations to communicate strengths and resources to companies and consultants seeking locations for new facilities within the nine-parish Capital Region.

Prior to working at BRAC, Rachel was an account executive at KTAL News Channel 6-NBC in Shreveport, LA.

Rachel is a member of the Southern Economic Development Council, Louisiana Industrial Executives Association and the Commercial Investment Division of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors.

Rachel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from Louisiana Tech University. Rachel is also a graduate of Donaldson Real Estate School and earned her certification for Economic Development Finance Professional from the National Development Council.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Randy Kelley of Three Rivers Planning and Development District, Inc.

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Randy Kelley HeadshotRandy Kelley has been the executive director of Three Rivers Planning and Development District, Inc. in Pontotoc, Mississippi since 1976. The PUL Alliance and subsequent Toyota industry moving into Northeast Mississippi is perhaps the best, but only one of the many examples, in which Three Rivers and Randy have served to facilitate partnerships, cooperation and collaboration among a variety of institutions and agencies in Northern Mississippi. Three Rivers Planning & Development District, Inc. operates multiple corporations including: Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority, Three Rivers Local Development Company, Inc.(SBA), Three Rivers Community Development Entity (U.S. Treasury), Three Rivers Area Agency on Aging,  P.U.L. Alliance, G.M.&O. Rails to Trails Recreational District of North Mississippi and the Mississippi Partnership Workforce Development, Inc. to name a few.

He is a past president of NADO, served as MAPDD president, has testified before Congress on Rural Development issues multiple times and served on countless committees, boards and task forces in his tenure at Three Rivers.

Randy has received the NADO’s J. Roy Fogle Award for Outstanding Executive Director, NADO President Award for outstanding leadership, ARC Federal Co-Chairman award for outstanding Economic Development activities, U.S. Small Business Administration Outstanding SBA Lender in Mississippi and Regional Rehabilitation Center Red Raspberry Humanitarian award.                                                                             

Randy attended the University of Mississippi and earned a Bachelor of Arts in banking and finance and a Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. David Swenson of York County Economic Development

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David SwensonDavid Swenson serves as director for York County Economic Development where he leads the business recruiting, existing industry and targeted marketing efforts for York County, SC.  David works directly with the York County Council, the York County Economic Development Board, local governments within York County, the South Carolina Department of Commerce and other state agencies, local businesses, utility providers and the general public.  David is very engaged in international and domestic marketing and business development efforts with a strategic focus on assisting site location consultants, manufacturers of transportation equipment, aerospace products, advanced materials, machine manufacturers as well as warehouse and distribution companies, corporate headquarters and back office operations.

David joined York County Economic Development in 2014 after spending close to eight years leading the Charlotte Regional Partnership’s business development and marketing efforts for the 16 county region. Prior to his time in Charlotte, David spent 11 years in local and regional economic development in the Southeast and in site location consulting at Fluor Daniel Corporation.

David holds professional memberships in the South Carolina Economic Developers Association, the Southern Economic Development Council and the International Economic Development Council.

David holds an Master of Science degree in economic development from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Bachelor of Science degree in economic geography from the University of North Dakota. David is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and earned his Certified Economic Developer (CEcD).

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Chris Camacho of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council

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Chris CamachoChris Camacho is the President & CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council where he manages the organization’s domestic and international strategies to build a more diverse economy in Metropolitan Phoenix.

Prior to becoming President, Chris was the executive Vice President of business development where he oversaw business development efforts with particular expertise in renewable energy, emerging technology, tax policy and international economic development. Chris managed the domestic and international strategies in attracting new industry to the market.

Chris has held leadership roles in several strategic councils within the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Chris also served as president of the Arizona Association of Economic Development (AAED) and has been named Economic Developer of the Year. He is involved in community non-profits including Chicanos Por La Casa, and sits on the boards for the Arizona Business Education Coalition, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Valley of the Sun United Way and the International Economic Development Council.

Chris received his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University and his Masters in Public Administration Public Policy, and Tax Analysis. Chris also obtained his Economic Development Certification from the University of Oklahoma.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Courtney Ross of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce

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Courtney RossCourtney Ross is the Chief Economic Development Officer for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Courtney is ascending to that role at a time when Nashville’s economy is creating jobs at an almost unrivaled pace, helping elevate Nashville’s national profile to record heights.

Prior to being promoted to Chief Economic Development Officer, Courtney worked as the Vice President of Existing Business, which means she was in charge of helping grow businesses already located in the Nashville market. Courtney also was an associate at an economic development marketing firm and a director of corporate recruitment for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce – a city many Nashville leaders use as a yardstick to gauge their growth.

Courtney enjoys many different things outside of her work including spending time with her husband and two children and traveling.

Courtney graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Laura Brandt of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation

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Laura BrandtLaura Brandt is the Director of Economic Development for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and has more than 30 years of experience in economic development, community organization and marketing. Laura assists with prospects, research and business recruitment and retention.

Since joining the Metro Denver EDC, Laura has worked on a variety of office and industrial projects including Vestas, DaVita, Lockheed Martin, Fidelity, Ardent Mills and Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company.

Prior to joining the Metro Denver EDC, Laura was an Economic Development Specialist for the City of Lakewood for six years. While at Lakewood, she 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 served three terms as a member of the City Council in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.

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