46th Annual Basic Economic Development Course Keynote: Vicki Horton, SC&H Group

Suzanne Barnett, University of Georgia SBDC

Eric Bonaparte, University of Georgia SBDC

Don Betts, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute

Ellen Anderson Cutter, Market Street Services

Lisa Collins, Early County 2055

Mac Holladay, Market Street Services

Thelma Adams Johnson, Albany Community Together

Greg King, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institution

Debra Lyons, ACT

Dr. Leo Mark, Georgia Tech Professional Education

Nick Masino, Gwinnett Chamber

Mary Ellen McClanahan, Georgia Department of Economic Development

Dr. Alfie Meek, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institution

Crystal Morphis, Creative Economic Development Consultant

Ed Nelson, EAN International Consulting

Jim O’Bryan, Georgia EMC (GEMC)

Winston Oxford, Lee County Development Authority

Charles Ross, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute

Gene Stinson, Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC)

Skip Teaster, University of Georgia Carl Vinston Institute

Joy Wilkins, University of Georgia SBDC

2013 Faculty

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

DAY 1 SPEAKERS

DR. LEO MARK Georgia Tech Professional Education Associate Dean, Academic programs and Student Affairs

Dr. Leo Mark, associate dean for academic programs and student affairs, collaborates with faculty and the Georgia Tech community to develop world class academic programs for Georgia Tech Professional education. He serves as the voice for students enrolled in the division's programs and will have oversight of all academic offerings including professional master’s degrees, the Georgia Tech Language Institute, and outreach and student affairs.

Mark has been an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing (CoC) since 1992, and has worked closely with Georgia Tech Professional Education throughout the years to develop and teach a number of distance learning and blended courses. He has also managed many initiatives for CoC, including serving as director of graduate, international, and professional programs for more than five years. Mark has been appointed to boards of the CETL Graduate Curriculum Committee and the Georgia Tech/IT University of Copenhagen exchange program. Furthermore, Mark oversaw the development, implementation, operation, and successful completion of Georgia Tech’s 4-year contract with Korea University to create a dual CSMS degree – which Professional Education assisted with and supported.

Prior to joining Tech, Mark was an assistant professor for the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland from 1986-1992. He taught database courses and seminars at Aarhus University in Denmark, the University of Maryland, and many private companies. Mark participated in database architecture standardization efforts for ANSI/SPARC, and has researched a standardized communication environment for NASA and High Performance Engineering Information Systems for the National Science Foundation. He has also published over 80 journal and conference papers on database systems. Mark earned both his M.S. and Ph.D. from Aarhus University.

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VICKI HORTON Director, SC&H Group Partner, Myriad Partners

Vicki has been a professional site selection consultant for more than 20 years. She

assists her corporate clients with location strategy, community evaluation, site selection,

real estate negotiation, and economic development incentive negotiation and collection.

In her 20 plus year career, Vicki has worked for well known site selection firms

including The Austin Company, Fantus Consulting, and Deloitte and Touche. She also

spent a portion of her career as the Director of Network Strategy for a nationally known

consumer products company. Currently she is a Partner with SC&H Group and leads

the Firm’s national site selection and incentives practice. She is also a Partner with

Myriad Partners, a group of senior executives that provide economic development and

“cost to do business” guidance to communities.

Vicki works with Fortune 100, 500 and middle market companies. Some of her current

and past clients include Porsche, Cox Enterprises, PPD, HCA, ConAgra, Hobart, Avery

Dennison, Russell Stover, Under Armour and WR Grace.

Vicki earned a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Akron and a Masters of

Public Administration degree from Cleveland State University. She is an active member

of the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC), The Association of Operations

Management (APICS), The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP),

International Tax Professionals (ITP) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Vicki is a paid speaker and a published author. Her book, The One You Feed, is a

compilation of short stories, reflection questions and quotes designed to assist in the

development of key character traits in children ages 7 to 14.

EDWARD NELSON, JR. CEcD, FM, HLM

EAN International Consulting Edward A. Nelson, Jr., CEcD, FM, HLM is presently serving as the Director of the Economic Development Initiative for Unincorporated South Fulton County. In this capacity, he is responsible for all economic development services including attraction and recruitment of targeted industries, retention and expansion of the existing industry base, small business development, nurturing entrepreneurship, and project development.

Working with public and private stakeholders in the community, he also leads efforts

that resolve issues that directly or indirectly impede economic growth in Unincorporated

South Fulton County.

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Professional Background

He is founder and Chairman of EAN International Consulting, Inc. The private Economic

Development firm provides economic development services, business development and

international business development. The firm focuses on projects that impact local

communities world-wide through business development and the development of

international trade through strategic alliances.

Included in his 40 years of experience in Economic Development, he has worked on

assignments across the United States, Europe, Canada, West Africa, The Bahamas,

South Africa, the Caribbean, and completed a major consulting assignment in the West

Midlands for Paris based OECD in France, and authored the report on “The Innovation

and Internationalization of Small and Medium-size Enterprises in the West Midlands,

UK”. He has been Research Scientist in Industrial Development at Georgia Tech,

President and Founder of Applied Management, Technical Assistance and Research,

President of Nelson & Company, Business Development Firm, Director of the Economic

Development Division, Fulton County, President of DeKalb Chamber of Commerce,

President of EANI.

He is a past chairman of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). He is

a certified Economic Development (CEcD) professional, and recipient of the prestigious

Fellow Member (FM) and Honorary Life Member (HLM) designations of the International

Economic Development Council. He has served on the boards of the Georgia Economic

Developers Association, Regional Business Coalition in Atlanta, the International Village

Cultural and Community Center, the International Village Advisory Board, the DeKalb

Convention and Visitors Bureau, the DeKalb Council for the Arts, the DeKalb County

Convention Center Authority, Leadership DeKalb, Leadership South Fulton, the Atlanta

Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Atlanta Area Council Boy Scouts of America (a

proud Eagle Scout). He has a B.S. from Hampton University and a MBA from Atlanta

University School of Business. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

NICK MASINO Senior Vice President, Economic Development & Partnership Gwinnett, Gwinnett Chamber Nick Masino is the Senior Vice President of Economic Development & Partnership Gwinnett at the Gwinnett Chamber in Duluth, Georgia. He oversees the business recruitment and retention efforts for Gwinnett as well as the implementation of the Partnership Gwinnett Strategy. Masino began his career in Economic Development in February 2007 when he accepted his current role, but he is no stranger to the field. In December 2007, he ended his

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eighth year as one of Georgia’s youngest Mayors in the city of Suwanee. As Suwanne’s Mayor, he spearheaded the Suwanee Greenspace and Towncenter efforts that earned the City the title of Money Magazine’s 2007 number ten (10) Best Small Town in America. Masino has spent 12 years in Division, Regional and Territory Management roles within the Recruiting & Staffing Industry. In his most recent role he was the Professional Services Division Manager for a national staffing agency. His job functions included management over sales, service and expansion of the market locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, Tampa and DC. As Senior Vice President of Economic Development and Partnership Gwinnett at the Gwinnett Chamber, Masino has served in a key leadership role for the past 6 years. The community and economic development (ED) organization created, Partnership Gwinnett, worked with public and private leadership to commission ED studies in 2005 and 2011, respectively; and spearheaded the implementation efforts of the initial plan-which brought 291 company expansions or relocations, 13,287 jobs and $813,350,000 in investment to Gwinnett. The second iteration of that plan is currently underway.

A graduate of The Ohio State University, Masino holds a BA in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication. He and his wife – his high school and college sweetheart, Suzanne – are the parents of three children, Anna, Vincent and Julia.

JIM O’BRYAN Manager of Retail-Commercial Development- Georgia EMC Jim is the Manager of Retail-Commercial Development for Georgia Electric Membership Corporation (GEMC). He has over 30 years’ experience in economic development and retail marketing. In his current position, he is responsible for supporting the Georgia Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs) through the retail and commercial sector of Georgia EMC’s Economic Development Department. He is a member of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) Touchstone Energy’s Business and Advisory Committee and was recently selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Agribusiness Council.

Prior to joining Georgia EMC, Jim worked for the Bluegrass Area Development District in Central Kentucky, providing economic and community development services to local communities. Jim also worked in retail management with one of the nation’s leading food retailers, the Kroger Company.

Jim is a graduate of the University of Kentucky where he received a Bachelor of Science

in Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Agricultural Economics. He is a

graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and has

his Georgia Real Estate License. He is married with two children.

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WINSTON OXFORD, CEcD Executive Director Lee County Development Authority

Winston Oxford owned and operated Oxford Motors, an auto dealership, which included

franchises for Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Pontiac, GMC Trucks, Chrysler, and Dodge

from 1976 – 1993 in Americus, Georgia. After selling his dealerships, he started his

economic development career in Monticello, Ga. 1995 he attended the Basic Economic

Development Course at Georgia Tech as well as the Economic Development Institute at

the University of Oklahoma. 2004 The International Economic Development Council

certified Winston as a Certified Economic Developer.

Winston served for 7 years in Thomson, McDuffie County, Georgia as its first economic

developer lowering its unemployment rate from over 12% to less than 6% assisting in

the creation of more than 1,300 jobs along with over $85 million in new industrial

investment. 2004 Winston assumed the duties of Chamber President and Economic

Developer in a community in Southwest Georgia which happened to be the 8th fastest

growing county in Georgia and was ranked 48th throughout the country at that time.

Although he has been successful in bringing 3 new industrial investments since locating

in Lee County, Winston concentrates exclusively on recruiting Commercial Investments

to his community.

Winston has presented at the University of Georgia training classes for Georgia

Development Authority Board Members as well as at The Academy for Economic

Development which is hosted by The Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

DAY 2 SPEAKERS

LISA COLLINS, CEcD, EDFP Director of Economic Development, Early County 2055, Inc.

Lisa S. Collins, a Georgia native, is the director of economic development for Early County 2055. As the leader of EC2055's team, she is directing the execution of a 50 year comprehensive economic development master plan for Blakely and Early County, Georgia – a plan focused on preserving the area's historical foundation and revitalizing the economy.

She also managed the Advancing Early Initiative 2012 program, a five-year community and economic development plan with specific goals and implementation strategies. By forging public private partnerships, the plan ended December 31, 2012, with all goals

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met. Collins now oversees 2020 Vision, the second community and economic development action strategy (eight years), for the 50 year master plan developed by EC2055. This plan sunsets December 31, 2020. Ms. Collins has over 17 years of experience in community and economic development. Before coming to Early County, she was the president and chief executive officer of UPtown Columbus, Inc., a non-profit organization in Columbus, GA, where she facilitated the economic revitalization initiatives throughout the city's central business district, riverfront, and overall uptown area. Prior to UPtown Columbus, Ms. Collins was senior vice president of governmental affairs and transportation at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, working closely with governmental, business and community leaders on issues affecting the economic development and quality of life in the region. In 2009, Ms. Collins earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), a national recognition that denotes a mastery of principal skills in economic development, professional attainment and a commitment to personal and professional growth. She joined approximately 1,100 CEcDs in the United States.

In 2010, she earned the designation of Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) from the National Development Council (NDC), a national recognition that denotes a mastery of economic development finance skills and deal structuring techniques that translate development opportunities into results for the community.

In June 2012, Collins was one of 30 people chosen from across the United States to

attend the White House Rural Council's Regional Innovation in Rural America Forum in

Washington, D.C. Participants were chosen based on their outstanding efforts to

promote economic development strategies, and were invited to share their experiences

with significant leadership within the Presidential Administration.

Ms. Collins presently serves on the Executive Committee of the US Highway 27

Association, the Agritourism Committee for Georgia Department of Agriculture

Commissioner Gary Black, the board of the Southwest Georgia Joint Development

Authority, the Early County Development Authority, and serves as secretary of the Early

County Airport Authority. She is a member of the International Economic Development

Council, the Southern Economic Development Council, the Georgia Economic

Developers Association and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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ELLEN CUTTER, AICP Principal and Director of Research

Ellen Cutter joined Market Street in 2005. As Director of Research for Market Street, she

directs its research systems, trains employees and clients on the latest data products

and methodologies, and serves in an advisory role in all company projects. Ellen has

coordinated research activities for clients in 20 states including Austin, Texas; Joplin,

Missouri; Gwinnett County, Georgia; Mandan, North Dakota; Montgomery, Alabama;

Coachella Valley, California; Madison, Wisconsin; and the states of Missouri and West

Virginia.

Ellen holds a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Tech, a B.S.

from Loyola University Chicago, and she is an AmeriCorps alumnus who served in rural

Oregon. She was certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) in

2009. Ellen is an IEDC, APA, and ACCE presenter and a member of C2ER.

Ellen resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana with her husband and daughter. She enjoys

running, putting her sewing machine to use, home fix-it projects, and afternoon

matinees. During baseball season she roots for the Fort Wayne TinCaps and, despite

better judgment, her hometown Cubs. As a new mom, she has every intention to finish

the books on her nightstand (currently: Little Women, Truman, and Andre Dubus’s

short story collection), after she has caught up on sleep.

GENE A. STINSON, PRESIDENT Southern Economic Development Council

Since March 1998 Gene has served as the President of the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC). SEDC is a professional association for economic development practitioners and serves 17 states in the American South. In the role of President Gene is responsible for overall operations of the association and for the implementation of the association’s annual program of work. In the twelve years prior to joining SEDC Gene served as the chief staff member of three Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development organizations in Tennessee and Georgia. Gene is a graduate of The University of Tennessee, the Economic Development Institute, and the US Chamber’s Institute for Organizational Management. In April, 1993 he earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from the American Economic Development Council. In May, 2002 he also received the designation of Certified Association Executive (CAE) from the American Society of

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Association Executives. He also received the Professional Community &Economic Developer (PCED) certification from the Community Development Council in 2007. He also has been elected to the board of the Georgia Society of Association Executives for 2011 and 2012. In addition, he serves as the Treasurer of the Community Development Council, the national certification body for the Professional Community & Economic Developer certification.

SUZANNE BARNETT District Director, South Georgia

Suzanne Barnett has been the Director of the Valdosta State University Center Small Business Development Center since 1994 and is a member of the faculty at Valdosta State University. She has served as a board member for the Lowndes/Valdosta Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Lowndes, a local leadership training initiative. In 1999, the Association of Small Business Development Centers recognized Ms. Barnett as a Star Performer. This national organization awarded the honor to only ten SBDC business consultants throughout the United States that year. The Georgia Economic Developers Association also has honored her for her work in Lowndes County and the State of Georgia. Her primary interests lie in marketing research, advertising and business valuation. She has presented programs for the Association of Small Business Development Centers, the Southeastern Entrepreneurial Education Conference, the National Town Meeting on Main Street, the Valdosta State University Women’s Studies Conference, the Southwest Texas State SBDC Professional Development Conference, and many regional programs throughout Georgia.

Suzanne holds a B.A. degree in History, University of Arkansas and a M.B.A. in

Marketing, Valdosta State University

DEBRA LYONS Vice President of Community and Economic Development, ACT, Inc.

Debra Lyons was recently named as Vice President of Community and Economic Development for ACT, Inc., Workforce Development Division. In this position, she will lead a national effort to provide community based workforce solutions to states to drive economic growth and greater productivity. Prior to this role, she served as the Executive Director for the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development for Governor Sonny Perdue. She was responsible for advising the Governor on workforce development policy and implementing initiatives to strengthen the state’s workforce development enterprise. The office provides a platform for collaboration among Georgia’s principle workforce development stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. Additionally, the office provides staffing support for the State Workforce Development Board, of which Lyons served as executive director. Most recently she

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served as Executive Director for Workforce Development Strategies for the Technical College System of Georgia prior to joining ACT. Lyons oversaw not only the start-up of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, but was the pioneer and architect of Georgia Work Ready, a one-of-kind workforce development system that links education and workforce development and aligns to the economic development needs of the state, its regions and communities. Georgia Work Ready is built on the state’s voluntary workforce assessment system measuring “real world” skills that employers believe are critical to job success. Work Ready is the only initiative of its kind to be conducted through a partnership between a state government and state chamber of commerce, ensuring that companies can more reliably match the right people with the right jobs. The initiative is based on a skills assessment and certification for job seekers, a job profiling system for businesses, a community effort to certify a county’s workforce and a regional effort to develop talent pools aligned to growth industries. By identifying both the needs of business and the available skills of Georgia’s workforce, the state can more effectively generate the right talent for the right jobs. Georgia Work Ready was recently honored with the Governor’s Award for Customer Service – 2008 Team Excellence, the Technology Association of Georgia’s Excalibur Award, 2008, the Georgia Bio Community Award, 2009 and the ACT Community Award, 2009. Lyons is the former owner of Debra Lyons Technical Consulting, a small consulting firm. Prior to starting her own business, she worked as an industrial training specialist. Lyons also previously held the position of associate professor in engineering technology and worked as a design engineer for a major defense contractor.

Lyons recently served on the state board for the Technical College System of Georgia where she helped establish a cross-education board committee to help build more collaboration among Georgia’s education partners. She was appointed to the Southern Growth Policies Board’s Council for a New Economy Workforce by Governor Perdue in May, 2010 and was nominated to the Board for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in 2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in

mechanical engineering.

DAY 3 SPEAKERS

DON BETTS, CEcD Georgia Tech’s Health Group

Don works in Georgia Tech’s Health group which sits at the critical intersection between the health

science and technology innovations growing out of the Georgia Tech campus and relationships with

health care system components around the state and with thousands of employers.

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Don’s current focus is to help non-health related employers establish a new

organization called EmployersLikeMe. EmployersLikeMe is a peer-to-peer learning

network to help employers provide better health care for employees at the best possible

cost. Don also works with health information technology where he helps primary care

health providers adopt and use electronic medical records and connect to local and

state health information exchanges.

Recent efforts at Georgia Tech have also involved leading the Georgia Centers of

Innovation program and developing initiatives to identify, connect, and energize early-

stage angel investors. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 2001, Don served in numerous

key leadership roles with community economic development agencies, private business,

and the U.S. Navy.

A certified economic developer and certified incubator manager, Don holds a B.A. from

Emory University and is a 1992 graduate of Leadership Georgia. He has also served as

a senior fellow with the Rural Policy Research Institute’s Center for Rural

Entrepreneurship and is a frequent speaker on entrepreneur development and business

incubation.

CRYSTAL P. MORPHIS, CEcD Creative Economic Development Consulting, LLC Crystal Morphis formed Creative Economic Development Consulting, LLC in 2012. She

built a consulting practice around her seventeen years of economic development

experience. Creative EDC is just that – creative economic development.

Crystal’s experience includes product development, strategic plans, best practices

analyses, economic impact studies, existing business retention and expansion programs

and site selection. Crystal has consulted across the Southeast U.S. with companies and

EDOs.

Crystal led the consulting team for the Triangle North project, a four-county multi-

jurisdictional technology park development north of the Research Triangle Park. The

project won a national innovation award from the National Association of State

Development Agencies. She has been involved with several statewide industry studies

including North Carolina’s first analysis of the motorsports industry, the NC Equine

Industry Study, and analyzing the economic impact of the state legislation on the

tourism industry. Crystal also specializes in return on investment analysis for economic

development projects.

Crystal was a Managing Partner in Sanford Holshouser Economic Development

Consulting for 10 years. While with Sanford Holshouser, she was involved in the firm’s

economic development planning site location consulting practice. Prior to joining

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Sanford Holshouser, Crystal served as the President, and previously Vice President, of

Surry County Economic Development Partnership, NC.

Crystal earned a Bachelor of Arts, major in economics, from Salem College and a Master

of Science, major in economics, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In

2005, Crystal earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD). Crystal is

a regular instructor at the IEDC-accredited Basic Economic Development Courses at

UNC-Chapel Hill and Georgia Tech. She has been a North Carolina licensed broker since

2000.

GREG KING DIRECTOR AND STRATEGIC PATNER OFFICER, GEORGIA TECH

Greg King is a Director and Strategic Partners Officer at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this role, Mr. King develops innovation, research and talent partnerships between companies and campus. His work helps to create the environment for companies to effectively access the range of resources, new discoveries and innovations occurring at Georgia Tech. He is also serves in a leadership position with the University System of Georgia as Director of Corporate Liaison and Economic Development. In this system wide role he represents all 31 campuses of Georgia’s public university system for economic development and serves as part of the State's economic development team supporting the recruitment and expansion of business in Georgia. In addition, Greg supports the start-up environment by working closely with large company partners and start-ups for collaboration through fast pitch opportunities.

Prior to his current position, King served as Group Manager for Strategic Initiatives within Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute (EDI). While in this role he developed and led a unique multi-agency economic development program to identify and serve high growth companies. Greg has also led community development efforts for Georgia Tech as the Group Manager for Community and Technology Services where his project teams worked around the state advising local leadership on technology led economic development, strategic planning, entrepreneur and start-up support, incubator readiness and more.

Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Mr. King served as an officer in the United States Navy in a variety of leadership assignments, operations and locations throughout the world.

Greg is a frequent speaker on university-industry collaboration, innovation eco-systems and technology led economic development. He earned his B.S. in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Masters in Economics from the University of Oklahoma. Greg is a certified economic developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).

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MARY ELLEN McCLANAHAN, I.O.M.

Director, Entrepreneur & Small Business Project Manager, Existing Industry Georgia Department of Economic Development As Director of Entrepreneur & Small Business Development for the Georgia

Department of Economic Development, Mary Ellen helps find solutions and effective

ways to build an entrepreneur environment and support small business through

mentoring, professional development, strategic planning and resource awareness.

She also connects with Georgia’s business and community associations so that

thousands of businesses, local leaders and practitioners are aware of resources and

opportunities. She also directs any sized businesses to the specific resources they

need.

Mary Ellen is also an Existing Industry Project Manager within the Metro Atlanta region.

She calls on growing companies making them aware of state resources and incentives

and providing assistance with their growth plans and decision making process. Mary

Ellen also works closely with the local economic developers with their existing industry

support efforts.

During her 15 years with the department, she helped develop and grow its regional

economic development program, the “Entrepreneur Friendly” Initiative and acted as

legislative liaison. Prior to that, Mary Ellen was the economic developer and president

of two rural South Georgia chambers of commerce in Dodge and Sumter Counties.

Originally from Erie, PA and in Georgia since 1973, Mary Ellen serves on the boards of GEDA (Georgia Economic Developers Association), GACCE (GA Association of Chambers of Commerce Executives), the Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection, the Advisory Council for the Edge Connection and the DeKalb Workforce Investment Board. She is a 1997 graduate of Institute for Organization Management, Leadership Georgia and a 2000 graduate of EDI (Economic Development Institute).

In addition to his technology entrepreneurship experience, Mr. Ross has over ten years

of business development and engineering management experience acquired through

several assignments within Ameritech’s cellular, telephony, electronic commerce, and IT

business units.

Currently Mr. Ross is a director with the National Association of Seed and Venture

Funds, an organization focused on creating and growing innovation capital through out

the U.S. Mr. Ross is also a director of The Center for Working Families, an employment

and asset-building initiative to improve the economic well-being of inner city residents

within the city of Atlanta.

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Mr. Ross holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Marquette

University and a MBA from Indiana University.

CHARLES E. ROSS Director of Innovation Growth Initiatives-Georgia Tech

Mr. Ross is Director of Innovation Growth Initiatives for the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). In this role, Mr. Ross is responsible for executing growth opportunities that expand the scope and reach of EI2’s programs and offerings to entrepreneurs and entrepreneur support organizations. This initiative levers several EI2-resident nationally- recognized entrepreneurial support programs to include the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a nationally recognized science and technology incubator; and VentureLab, a faculty assistance program to commercialize promising technologies from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mr. Ross joined EI2 through the ATDC and has provided leadership for assistance programs focused on technology, rural, and minority entrepreneurs. Prior to the Enterprise Innovation Institute, Mr. Ross was a Vice President of the Telecommunications Development Fund where he sourced, structured and managed investments in several early-stage communications companies. Additionally, Mr. Ross was a Director of Ameritech’s venture capital division where he identified and executed strategic technology investments. During these assignments, Mr. Ross served as a corporate director and observer for several early-stage technology companies and participated in investment exits via initial public offerings and strategic acquisition.

DR. ERIC BONAPARTE Assistant State Director for the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Dr. Eric Stanley Bonaparte is a Senior Public Service Associate and Assistant State

Director for the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Dr.

Bonaparte has held several positions at the SBDC including Business Consultant, Area

Director, Regional Director, Metro Atlanta Director and Director of the Office Minority

Business Development.

Dr. Bonaparte began his career in 1991 with the SBDC and has assisted hundreds of

Entrepreneurs with their start up and growth strategies. He has also coordinated,

presented and facilitated over 300 training programs in Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Bonaparte is a member of the Georgia Economic Developer’s Association, the

Community Development Forum and the Georgia Micro Enterprise Network. Nationally,

Dr. Bonaparte is the National Chairman of the Association of Small Business

Development Center’s Minority Interest Group.

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Dr. Bonaparte holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Rutgers University, An MBA

in Management from Long Island University and a Doctorate in Education Studies

specializing in Higher Education Administration and Leadership from the University of

Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dr. Bonaparte has researched and written articles extensively on Minority Business

Access to Capital and Marketing to Multi-Cultural Multi Ethnic Communities. A recipient

of the National ASBDC award for excellence in consulting in 1999 and the Walter B. Hill

award for distinction in Public Service in Georgia and nationally in 2006, Dr. Bonaparte

has also worked on International Small Business projects in Europe, Africa and the

Caribbean.

Dr. Bonaparte lives by the quote, “Do more than is required. What is the difference

between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their

lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.”

JOY WILKINS, CEcD Senior Public Service Associate The University of Georgia, Small Business Development Center Joy Wilkins is a frequent advisor, speaker, instructor, and author on economic development, leadership development, community capacity building, strategic planning, and quality management topics. She has served as a consultant for clients in the United States and Canada.

As a member of the University of Georgia’s public service faculty, Joy serves with the state office team for the Georgia Small Business Development Center, contributing to initiatives to enhance overall organizational effectiveness. In a prior capacity with the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, she facilitated community leadership dialogues, conducted strategic assessments, and advised leaders on a variety of matters.

Prior to UGA, Joy served with Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and grew the community services unit of the organization into a high performance team. She oversaw the development and delivery of the Institute's planning, research, and advisory services for leaders in economic development representing chambers of commerce, cities, counties, regions, and state and federal entities – and contributed to the design and deployment of professional development courses to serve them. In this role, she promoted the organization to a wide range of constituencies.

In another prior capacity, Joy served with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce where she conducted research and produced customized reports and publications concerning metro Atlanta's economic development landscape for investors ranging from the entrepreneur to the corporate executive. While at the Chamber, much of her work

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was concentrated on addressing research needs associated with Atlanta's hosting of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.

Joy entered the economic development profession in 1994 and has been a Certified Economic Developer by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) since 2002. She has a master's degree in city planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology; a graduate certificate in real estate from Georgia State University; and a bachelor's degree, with majors in sociology and political science, from the State University of New York at Fredonia. Joy serves on the IEDC Board of Directors, chairs the Georgia Economic Developers Association’s Professional Development Committee, and has been actively involved with a number of other endeavors to serve the profession.

DAY 4 SPEAKERS THELMA ADAMS JOHNSON Director, Albany Community Together

Thelma Adams Johnson served as a Regional Resource Coordinator for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs prior to joining Albany Community Together, Inc. As regional resource coordinator, she provided consulting services to counties and cities in the area of Community and Economic Development. In her current position, she oversees all administration functions of the nonprofit agency that provides economic development financing to existing and new business starts. She has worked with the City of Albany as an Economic Development Specialist, and is a certified Economic Development Finance Specialist through the National Development Council, Certified MoneySmart Facilitator, Certified Housing Counselor through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, a Certified Credit Counselor through the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors, and has served as a facilitator for numerous trainings. She has served as a grant reviewer for federal grant awards, other nonprofits, and local grant awards. Thelma has served as the Site Coordinator for ACT!’s VITA site for the last four years and is certified to provide tax preparation and consulting through the Internal Revenue Service VITA programs. Thelma has a BS in Accounting from Albany State University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She is an adjunct professor at Albany State University where she teaches in the College of Business. Thelma is a 2000 Graduate of Leadership Albany, Board of Directors of Albany Dougherty Inner City Authority, and a member of the Albany Chamber of Commerce and Albany Downtown Sertoma Club, Capitol City Bank & Trust Advisory

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Board, and Dougherty County Family Literacy Board. 2007 Recipient of Southwest Georgia 40 under 40 awards, 2008 Georgia’s Small Business Administration Financial Champion of the Year Award. She has over 15 years experience in nonprofit management and economic development.

DR. ALFIE MEEK Director-Community Innovation Services-Georgia Tech

Dr. Meek is the director of the Community Innovation Services group at the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute. He has more than 15 years of experience in economic/fiscal analysis and community-based research. Before joining EI2, Dr. Meek served for nine years as the Chief Economist and Director of Economic Analysis for the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. Before his time with Gwinnett, he spent three years as the Director of Applied Research at The University of Georgia's Business Outreach Services and Small Business Development Center, and served for five years on the faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology as an economist and project director for the Center for Economic Development Services. Preceding his tenure at Georgia Tech, Dr. Meek was the Research Economist for SunTrust Banks, Inc.

Current areas of special focus include economic/fiscal impact analysis, forecasting and modeling, work-force issues, tax policy analysis, and target industry analysis. In addition to his research, Dr. Meek speaks widely on topics relating to economic impact and economic development. Dr. Meek has also written for economic development-related publications, as well as other periodicals. His research on the size and economic impact of the sports industry in the United States was published in Sport Marketing Quarterly. This research has been written about and cited in numerous publications - USA Today, Georgia Trend, Financial Times London, Fortune Magazine, and Investor’s Business Daily among others.

Dr. Meek is an active member of the National Association for Business Economics, and is a past president of the Atlanta Economics Club. He holds a PhD. in Agricultural Economics from The University of Georgia; a Master of Science in Business Economics from Georgia State University; and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

LLOYD B. “SKIP” TEASTER Associate Professor, CEcD, PCED, IOM University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government

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Skip Teaster has a very diverse background. His career has spanned a broad range of

experiences from military service, consumer finance, classroom teacher (grades 6-8),

textbook sales, managed healthcare, heath care consulting, hospital business

development, chambers of commerce executive, community and race relations,

community economic development executive and university educator.

Mr. Teaster has been successful in rural, urban, and inner-city development settings

and he is considered to be a “change agent” or a “catalyst for change”. He thrives on

projects that some may say “cannot be done” and enjoys encouraging local leaders to

take the “leap of faith” required to move their communities or facilities forward. Skip

promotes community economic development because it is “inclusive” and “sustainable”

and he believes strongly that the ‘genius is within the community’ and all real progress

comes from the “bottom up and not top down”.

Teaster is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a Professional Community and

Economic Developer (PCED) and has completed U. S. Chamber Institute of

Management (IOM). Also, Skip is an Associate Professor with the Carl Vinson Institute

of Government at the University of Georgia and his work is focused on Community

Economic Development, Healthcare and School Boards in the Public Service and

Outreach Division which supports the land grant mission. Skip is a faculty member at

Oklahoma University’s Economic Development Institute (OU/EDI) and teaches

community economic development at several Community Development Institutes. Skip

assists CEcD Candidates as they prepare for the rigorous CEcD exam.

He has a M.Ed. from Columbus State University (Earth Science and Social Studies) and

a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance and General Business) from the University of

Southern Mississippi. He hails from the famous Mississippi Delta community of Yazoo

City, Mississippi.

J. MAC HOLLADAY, CCE, PCED, LM, HLM Chief Executive Officer

J. Mac Holladay is the founder and CEO of Market Street Services. Mr. Holladay has

been in the community and economic development field since 1972. He served three

Chambers of Commerce over a 13 year period and is the only individual to head state

level economic development organizations in three different states.

Mr. Holladay served as Chief Operating Officer for the Governor's Development Council

of Georgia from June 1993 to July 1997. Prior to 1993, Mr. Holladay served as the State

Director for both the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development

(1988–1992) and the South Carolina Development Board (1985–1988).

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His professional career began in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, following five

years as a U.S. Naval Aviator, three of which were spent in the Far East including

service in Vietnam. During his four years at the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce,

Mr. Holladay served as Director of Special Projects, Associate Vice President of the

Convention Bureau, and Vice President of Member Relations. He then served as

President of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce in Indiana and from 1979 to

1985 he was the President of the Charleston Trident Chamber of Commerce in

Charleston, South Carolina.

His professional honors include being named a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) in

1982 and serving as president of both the Indiana and South Carolina Chamber of

Commerce Executives. Mr. Holladay was a member of the Commission of the Future of

the South from 1986 to 1992 and was the Chairman of the Board of Regents of

Leadership South Carolina from 1984 to 1988. He was selected as a member of the

1986 class of the International Business Fellows and has served on the Board and

Executive Committee of the Society of International Business Fellows. He was Co-

Chairman of the Southern Technology Council of the Southern Growth Policies Board in

1991. He was named a Professional Community and Economic Developer (PCED) in

2006, named a Life Member of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives

association in 2009, and given the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011 by Leadership

South Carolina. The Southern Economic Development Council named him an Honorary

Life Member at its 2012 Annual Meeting.

Mr. Holladay now serves on the board of the Alliance for Regional Stewardship;

Southern Growth Policies Board’s Council on the Southern Community; the Board of

Directors for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, the Atlanta Educational

Telecommunications Collaborative (AETC), and the Community Growth Education

Foundation of American Chamber of Commerce Executives; the National Advisory Board

for the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi;

the Advisory Board of Washington and Lee Alumni College; and the Editorial Board of

the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives. Mr. Holladay speaks across the

country on the topics of community and economic development and has been quoted in

a wide variety of publications including BusinessWeek, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal,

The New York Times, Bloomberg News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and many

other newspapers.

He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and was recognized by the

University as a Distinguished Alumnus in May of 2012. He holds an honorary doctorate

in Business Administration from Johnson & Wales University. Mr. Holladay has been

named the outstanding faculty presenter at the Basic Economic Development Courses

at Georgia Institute of Technology, Auburn University, Louisiana State University, and

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the Universities of North Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock, Tennessee, and

Southern Mississippi.

Mac is married to the former Carolyn Gordon Howe and has two daughters, Jennifer

and Sarah; two step-children, Sarah and Alec; and four grandchildren. Avid travelers, in

recent years the Holladays have spent time exploring Tanzania, America’s National

Parks, Vienna, Ireland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. When not

traveling for business or pleasure, you can find him courtside at an Atlanta Hawks

game, taking in a performance of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, or spending time

with his family and dog, Elvis, at their home in West Virginia.