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An Inside Look: Feat. Brandon Talbert of Austin Consulting

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Brandon TalbertAs a location consultant for Austin Consulting, Brandon Talbert has performed site location studies for a diverse clientele. Specific areas of expertise include food processing plants, industrial manufacturing, warehouses and distribution centers. Brandon’s work on location studies has included supply chain studies, labor market analysis, favorable area analysis, metropolitan area site searches, community assessment and site and building evaluation. Brandon is also experienced in site evaluation for “shovel ready” certification as Austin performs this service for state, regional and local economic development organizations across the country. Most recently, Brandon has played a key role in the development and launch of the Select Tennessee statewide industrial site certification program.

Prior to joining The Austin Company, Brandon served as business recruitment director for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, a regional economic development marketing organization in Fort Wayne. Brandon began his economic development career in Tennessee, where he was responsible for the marketing and business development activities for the Tri-Cities Economic Development Alliance in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia.

Brandon is passionate about traveling, running and sports. Brandon is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) by the International Economic Development Council. He has been recognized by the Business Journal of Tri Cities, TN/VA, 40 Under Forty; Milligan College Most Outstanding Business Student and by the Wall Street Journal for the Award of Business Excellence.

Brandon received Bachelor of Science degrees in business administration and computer information systems from Milligan College in east Tennessee.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Tim Cowden of Kansas City Area Development Council

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Tim CowdenTim Cowden is senior vice president of Business Development (Corporate Relocation) for the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC). Tim leads KCADC’s prospect attraction efforts for the KC area, which is one of the country’s largest metro footprints for development. Tim has held this position for the past 16 years. Tim’s focus includes advanced manufacturing, headquarters, bioscience/animal health, logistics/transportation, energy and information technology projects. Some of the corporate recruitment successes that Tim has been involved with include projects related to Aviation Technical Services, MindMixer, Sedgwick LLP, Targeted Metrics, Netsmart Technologies, U.S. Bank, Sara Lee Corporation, Wal-Mart, Coleman, Kimberly Clark and Farmer’s Insurance, to name but a few.

With over 25 years in economic development, Tim brings solid skills to the development process from his private sector experience in real estate and business management. He also has a strong understanding of manufacturing, distribution operations and headquarters attraction. Tim has provided location consulting assistance and leadership to companies such as FedEx Ground, Wal-Mart, Farmer’s Insurance, US Bank, Intel and Mars Chocolate North America.

Tim received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma. He is involved in many local volunteer organizations and is a big supporter of University of Oklahoma football.

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An Inside Look: Feat. Josh Bays of Site Selection Group

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Josh BaysJosh Bays is a Principal of Site Selection Group where he manages the company’s industrial, education and economic development business practices. He is a critical part of the company’s management team and helps develop and implement strategic plans for SSG. Throughout his career, Josh has been a key contributor in the continued development of new service lines offered by the company. These contributions include the development of various cutting-edge analytical platforms that have enabled clients to optimize their location decisions.

Previously, Josh was an associate at Trammell Crow Company in the Corporate Site Selection Group. There, he supported all location advisory projects through the research of critical site selection variables, including economic incentive and real estate conditions for corporate operations.

Josh has completed more than 250 projects for global clients, including Amazon.com, W.W. Grainger, Novartis, Glanbia Foods, Bimbo Bakeries, Boeing, Harley-Davidson, Lincoln Education Services, Bryant & Stratton College and the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition.

Josh received his MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in geography with concentrations in urban geography and geographic information science from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Justin Horvath of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership

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Justin HorvathJustin Horvath is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership (SEDP), the economic development organization serving Shiawassee County, Michigan. Justin has been with the SEDP for over 13 years, with various responsibilities including:

  • providing customized services to existing businesses in the county, encouraging retention and expansion of jobs and capital investment
  • implementing a business recruitment program, with a focus on fostering regional and statewide marketing partnerships
  • coordinating a public relations effort to gain support from program funders, community leaders, economic development peers and the public at large

Justin has also served as a councilman for the City of Owosso, ensuring local government services were provided to the community’s 15,000+ residents in an efficient and cost-effective manner. As part of this role, he represented the council on the City’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority/Local Development Finance Authority.

Justin is a member of the International Economic Development Council (and holds a Certified Economic Developer designation from the organization) and the Michigan Economic Developers Association. He has also served as the industry division chair of the Shiawassee United Way Campaign.

Justin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, Master of Arts degree in Applied Economics and a Master of Public Policy degree, all from the University of Michigan.

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An Inside Look: Feat. Ann Petersen of Jones Lang LaSalle

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Picture1Ann Petersen is a vice president and member of the Business and Economic Incentives division of Jones Lang LaSalle. Ann’s primary responsibilities include researching state and local economic development programs, coordination of state and local economic development programs, coordination and negotiation with state and local economic development officials and implementation of incentives. Ann provides complex financial analysis to her clients which includes 10 year P&L cash flow modeling of each project.  In addition, Ann utilizes her legal background to provide creative savings solutions to her clients through legal analysis, tax legislation and letter rulings.

Prior to joining the BEI Team, Ann was with the State and Local Tax practice at KPMG LLP where her practice was focused on state and local income and incentives advisory and compliance services. At KPMG, Ann worked with a broad range of multi-state clients that included leaders within the retail, manufacturing and financial services industries. Ann advised her clients on a variety of transactions including tax compliance, state tax return review, advisory, state audit defense, tax due diligence and business restructurings. In addition, Ann’s practice was a leader in state and local RAR exam reporting, state pass through taxation and state-level income and franchise taxes imposed on disregarded entities and partnerships, nonresident withholding and negotiation of specialized filing methodologies.

Ann has served as an executive board member and officer of the Tax Council for the MSBA Tax Section and as Editor in Chief of the MSBA Tax Section Newsletter. She is a member of the Minnesota Chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women and served on the Board of the National CREW Foundation – the philanthropic arm of CREW Network. She has also served as an Economic Development Commissioner for a local Minnesota community and was awarded Economic Development Project of Year in Des Moines, IA.

Ann received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Hamline University and Juris Doctor Degree from Hamline School of Law.

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From The Ground Up: Feat. Bentley Story of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission

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bentleystoryBentley Story has been director of business development at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) for the state of Arkansas since 2012. In this role, Bentley manages a staff of 11 working in domestic and international project management, marketing, research and real estate. Bentley leads the organization’s site selection services, recruitment and incentive negotiation.

Prior to being named director, Bentley served as a project manager of business development for the AEDC. While in this role, Bentley was responsible for sectors that included telecommunications, sustainable agriculture, power electronics, data centers and technical support centers. Bentley managed projects such as HP’s location to Conway and Dillard’s Internet Fulfillment Center to Maumelle.

Bentley is a native of Forrest City, Arkansas and received his bachelor’s degree in finance and investments and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

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An Inside Look: Feat. Brett Bayduss of Site Selection Group

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Bayduss-colorAs executive vice president and founding partner of Site Selection Group, Brett Bayduss is a critical part of the management team and manages all aspects of the location advisory division.

Bayduss brings 15 years of location advisory experience to the company. He has completed more than 400 site selection projects for clients, including American Express, Becton Dickinson, Marriott, McKesson and Medtronic.

Prior to joining Site Selection Group, Bayduss was vice president of the Corporate Site Selection Group at Trammell Crow Company, where he conducted in-depth site selection research of locations across the world on behalf of corporate customers.

Bayduss was a team recipient of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 William Dorsey Site Selection Award, presented by Site Selection Magazine. He was recognized for his career accomplishments by the Dallas Business Journal for the “Heavy Hitter” award in 2005 and the “Top 35 Under 35” in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. He also was recognized as a “Power Broker” by the CoStar Group in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Bayduss is a noted expert in trade publications, including as Area Development and National Real Estate Investor.

He is a licensed real estate salesman in the State of Texas and holds a master’s degree in geography-site selection from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a bachelor’s degree in urban planning-geography from Binghamton University.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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An Inside Look: Feat. Les Cranmer of Savills Studley

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Les CranmerLes Cranmer is the Senior Managing Director of Savills Studley and has over 40 years of experience in consulting services associated with corporate real estate and facilities. Les’ professional expertise covers virtually all corporate facility types including: headquarters, back office operations, customer services, shared services support, research and development, data centers, manufacturing, distribution, and other special purpose real estate holdings.

Les has been responsible for developing real estate strategy and facility rationalization scenarios for over 200 separate organizations experiencing corporate restructuring. In addition, Les developed and analyzed occupancy cost reduction programs for large multi facility users – and has developed facility consolidation plans for merged organizations and developed real estate disposal strategies for manufacturing and administrative facilities.

Prior to his current role at Savills Studley, Les was a director at Deloitte & Touche, LLP and also a partner at PHH Fantus Consulting. He was awarded the Industrial Deal of the Year by the Tri-State Realtors Commercial Alliance for TJX / Marshalls Distribution Facility of 1.4 million square foot build-to-suit project.

Les holds memberships in many professional and industry trade associations. Les is frequently quoted in industry trade publications and newspapers including; the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Real Estate Forum, Expansion Magazine, Area Development, and Site Selection Magazine. Les holds membership in many professional and industry trade associations and sits on the Editorial Board of Area Development Magazine. In addition, Les has authored numerous articles for professional journals.

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

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

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

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

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

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