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Beth Doughty has been the executive director for the Roanoke Regional Partnership for over eight years. She manages a $1.2 million economic development program for a seven-locality, urban-suburban-rural region. Beth oversees a program of work designed to attract people, jobs, money and ideas to the region. Beth’s responsibilities include marketing strategy, connecting business with resources for expansion and location, organizational management and fundraising.

Prior to joining the Roanoke Regional Partnership, Beth was the president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. Beth was responsible for the operations of the 1,400 member business organization with an annual budget of $1.1 million. Beth’s operating units included the small business development center, leadership development and governmental relations. Beth was also responsible for the management of $2 million in assets of nonprofit real estate development foundations. Beth managed the business political action committee and an organization of the region’s largest employers.

Beth 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.

Greg HeadshotGreg Wathen serves as president and CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana. Since March of 2007, his leadership has helped garner over $2.8 billion in investment, over 3,500 jobs and $74 million in state and federal grants for the region. In 2015, Greg’s collaborative efforts saw Indiana’s Great Southwest named one of Indiana’s first Regional Cities and being awarded $42 million in state funding to help create projects to attract talent to the region.

Not only has Greg helped create Southwest Indiana into a national brand, he has helped steer projects such as worldwide appliance giant Haier America to place its first research and development tech center in Evansville.

Prior to his work at the Coalition, Greg worked as the executive director for the Perry County Development Corporation and was public affairs manager for the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership.  He also managed the Greater Louisville Media Information Center, an independent news service bureau which assisted international, national and regional media in dealing with stories about the Greater Louisville area.  In 1999 and 2001, he was part of a five-member U.S. team who taught the first tertiary and advanced economic development courses in New Zealand.

A graduate of Indiana State University, Greg is accredited in Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America and held the position of president for the Bluegrass Chapter of the PRSA. He is a past president and served on the board of directors of the Indiana Economic Development Association, a statewide economic development organization with more than 400 members.

David RumbargerDavid Rumbarger has over 30 years of economic development/existing industry and Chamber of Commerce management. Since August 2000, David has served as president and CEO of the Community Development Foundation of Tupelo, Mississippi. Under his leadership, Tupelo/Lee County has experienced exceptional growth. David’s most recent recruit, Grammer Inc. USA, employs 650 individuals. In December 2008, David successfully led a team to retain the 1,200 jobs at Cooper Tire and Rubber Plant. David played a pivotal role in locating Toyota’s Corolla Plant in North Mississippi; that plant now employs 2,000 with over one billion dollars of capital investment.

Previously, David worked for The Alabama Department of Community and Economic Affairs, the largest economic development agency in the state; North Carolina Power & Light and Energen.

Tupelo/Lee County ranked #4 in the nation for projects in 2015. David’s leadership was recognized in 2008 for the SEDC Project of the Year. He has received the designations of Top Ten Developer by Triangle Business Journal in 1997, Top 40 under 40 by Mississippi Business Journal in 1995, Hattiesburg Sales and Marketing Executive of the Year in 1995, Top Young Developers by Expansion Management Magazine in 1995 and Top 20 Area Development Partnership by Site Selection Magazine in 1994.

David graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University, holds a Master of Science in Economic Development from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Management Certificate from Duke University.

Wade Goodsell is a Director of Business and Investment Attraction at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, an organization that he has been with for the past 2 years. He leads the state’s site selection and corporate real estate outreach efforts in the recruitment of companies to Wisconsin, partnering extensively with local and regional economic development organizations as well as the Governor and Lt. Governor’s offices. Additionally, Wade serves as a single point of contact for site selectors and consultants alike, while also overseeing Wisconsin’s Certified Sites Program, which in its 5 years has drawn over $240M of capital investment into 8 of the state’s 15 certified development-ready sites.

Prior to Wade’s current position, he was Manager of Membership and Government Relations with the State Chamber of Commerce.

Wade is a member of the Wisconsin Economic Development Association, the International Economic Development Council, CoreNet’s Chicago Chapter, NAIOP, CARW and the Industrial Asset Management Council, where he serves as a volunteer on the Member Relations Committee.

Wade received his Bachelor of Arts degree in business marketing and leadership studies from Bethel University.

Rob O'BrianRob O’Brian is the President of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, where he has focused on economic and community development for 21 years. Rob is well respected statewide as a visionary and a leader with enormous economic development success. Rob is known to bring big results to small and medium-sized markets that are mixed with rural and urban geographies.

Prior to joining the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Rob was the president of the Warsaw Area Chamber of Commerce, the vice president at Muncie Chamber of Commerce and a news director with WBST. He was also positioned as past-President of the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Missouri. Additionally, Rob O’Brian was a member of Governor Blunt’s State Government Reform Commission and was instrumental in writing the Enterprise Zone and Quality Jobs Act legislation.

His civic and business activities include President of the Joplin Business and Industrial Development Corporation and Vice-President of the Joplin Industrial Development Authority. He also serves on the regional Medical School Alliance and Connect2Culture boards. State-wide, Rob O’Brian is a current Board Member of the Hawthorne Foundation, the private-sector foundation supporting economic development. He is also a Board Member and Past-President of the Missouri Economic Development Council and a Board Member and Past-President of the Missouri Economic Development Financing Association.

Rob received his Bachelor of Science degree in telecommunications and journalism from Ball State University. Rob is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).

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.

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.

Brian Hilson

Brian HilsonBrian Hilson is President and CEO of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) and is responsible for all areas of the BBA, including economic development, public policy, communications and other programs designed to grow and diversify the Birmingham regional economy and enhance the quality of life for all citizens.

He has been involved in economic development in Alabama since 1980. Prior to his joining the BBA in 2011, Brian was President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County. Previously, he was a Vice President of the Birmingham Metropolitan Development Board and has held economic development positions with the Birmingham and Mobile Chambers of Commerce. Over the years he has worked with a wide variety of national and international companies’ economic development projects, such as Lockheed Martin, Toyota, LG Electronics, Sterilite Corp., UPS, Delta Air Lines, Verizon and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

A native of Huntsville, Brian is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute. He is a graduate of Leadership Alabama, Leadership Birmingham and Leadership Huntsville/Madison County, and is active in state and national economic development organizations. He is past president of the Economic Development Association of Alabama and the Japan-America Society of Alabama, and is the 2015 chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama.  He is a recipient of the Rainer Bauer Award from the Alabama Germany Partnership and the Samuel Ullman Award from the Japan-America Society of Alabama.

He currently serves on boards of directors or advisory boards of several additional state and local organizations, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Business Council of Alabama. Having spent his entire career in the economic development profession, Brian is a strong believer that employment opportunities are the best way to make communities better.

Brian and his wife, Windy, have two married children. Carlton is an attorney with Burr & Forman in Birmingham and Abby is a teacher in Arlington, Tenn.

Cecilia Harry

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.

Greg Wathen

Greg WathenGreg Wathen serves as President and CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana. Since March of 2007 his leadership has helped garner over $2.8 billion in investment over 3,500 jobs and $73 million in state and federal grants for the region. In 2013, Wathen’s collaborative efforts saw Midwest Fertilizer Corporation, the largest investment for the state of Indiana choose Southwest Indiana for its first North American site.

Prior to his work at the Coalition, Wathen worked as the Executive Director for the Perry County Development Corporation, where he worked to secure nearly $500 million in new industrial development along with more than 2,000 new jobs. He also played a critical role in Perry County establishing its own railroad and river port on the Ohio River.

Prior to his stay in Perry County, Wathen was Public Affairs Manager for the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership; and, he also managed the Greater Louisville Media Information Center, an independent news service bureau which assisted international, national and regional media in dealing with stories about the Greater Louisville area.

Wathen is a sought-after speaker and has spoken to regional and national groups on issues such as reshoring investment; media relations and marketing; and, has conducted media relations’ seminars for such groups as the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. During 1999 and 2001, he was part of a five-member U.S. team who taught the first tertiary and advanced economic development courses in New Zealand.

A graduate of Indiana State University, Wathen is Accredited in Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America, and held the position of president for the Bluegrass Chapter of the PRSA. He is a past president and served on the board of directors of the Indiana Economic Development Association, a statewide economic development organization with more than 300 members. He also served as one of the original 23-members of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation board of directors, created by the Indiana Legislature to carry out the economic functions of the State beginning in 2005.