Advertise on podcast: Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development

In this unique episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Dan Kiger, founder and principal advisor at VerumLegend, about why a meeting that feels productive can still leave you without the answers you need. Drawing on more than 20 years in the defense intelligence community, including time as a military interrogator, Dan makes the case for clarity over agreement and curiosity about what matters to the person across the table. They discuss how follow-through builds trust, why a rigid agenda can hide useful information, and what you miss when the CEO does all the talking. Dan also works through familiar economic development situations: a prospect focused on incentives, an employer struggling to find workers, and an existing business owner who feels overlooked. The conversation offers practical ways to get beyond polite answers and understand what will actually move a project or relationship forward. *Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! * Ten actionable takeaways for economic developers Define what you need to learn before the meeting. Identify the questions you need answered to understand the project and its prospects. Afterward, assess which questions were actually answered and what information you can corroborate. Learn what matters to the company before presenting your pitch. Ask about its history, employees, suppliers, and reasons for considering your community. That context can reveal concerns that a property checklist or incentive discussion leaves out. Invite a clear answer about whether things are moving forward. When a prospect keeps taking calls but never commits, ask where the project stands and what is preventing a decision. Make room for disagreement so both sides understand the situation. Follow through on the small commitments that build trust. Return calls and emails, arrive on time, and do what you said you would do. Remember that a broken promise affects how people see your organization as well as you. Follow useful detours in the conversation. When someone raises a concern outside your planned questions, ask them to explain it before steering back to the agenda. It may reveal a need or obstacle you did not know to ask about. Ask what would eliminate your community from consideration. If every shortlist discussion returns to incentives, ask what would cause the company to rule you out and what an acceptable incentive package means to them. Use those answers to clarify the requirements behind the negotiation. Investigate the hiring process before suggesting a workforce solution. When an employer says it cannot find workers, ask them to walk through exactly how they have tried to recruit. Find out what they have tried, what they have not tried, and where the process is getting stuck. Turn an overlooked local business’s complaint into a concrete meeting. Set up time to discuss its current problems, concerns, and goals. Identify people in your local network who could help address those needs. Create opportunities to hear from people beyond the CEO. Ask leadership to allow separate conversations with managers and employees so concerns can surface without the boss in the room. When conducting confidential interviews, share themes without identifying the individuals who raised them. Corroborate what you hear before treating it as settled. Compare statements with other available information and the person’s pattern of follow-through. Recognize when your assessment rests on evidence and when you are still working from a hunch. Special Guest: Dan Kiger.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Peter McGee about why entrepreneurship support is often included in economic development plans but rarely given the same strategic attention as attraction, retention, and infrastructure. Peter explains how better entrepreneurship programs can help communities connect residents to economic development, support business owners with coaching and practical business fundamentals, and generate meaningful metrics instead of simply counting meetings and referrals. They also discuss why information alone is not enough, the value of human coaching in an AI-filled world, and how economic development organizations can create locally branded entrepreneurship programs without having to build everything from scratch. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Peter McGee.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane talks with Thane Hutcheson about what site selection looks like from the company side of the table, beginning with why the process often starts with markets, labor, supply chains, and operating conditions rather than a specific piece of dirt. Thane explains how companies narrow their choices, why falling in love with a community or site too early can create problems, and what the best economic development teams do differently—from submitting only sites that actually fit to helping visiting companies visualize what long-term success in the community would look like. They also discuss incentives, the growing role of AI in professional services, and why automating data gathering and analytical work can free economic developers and consultants to spend more time building relationships, exercising judgment, and doing the work that still requires humans. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Understand the market-level decision before pitching individual sites. Companies may narrow locations based on labor availability, labor costs, specialized occupations, supply chains, utility costs, and other operating factors before they ever start comparing properties. Don't lead with dirt when the project isn't ready for dirt. Learn what the company is actually solving for first. A perfect site in the wrong labor market or supply-chain location may never be competitive. Submit fewer, better-fitting properties. If an RFI asks for 20–50 acres with specific characteristics, don't pad the response with properties that obviously fall outside the requirements. Protect the company's time and your own. Know what surrounds the site, not just what is on it. Be ready to explain neighboring uses, infrastructure, businesses, access, and the larger environment in which the company would operate. Understand your community's goals and resources. Know how a project aligns with local priorities and what financial and non-financial resources—including workforce training and community-college partnerships—you can realistically bring to the table. Help prospects visualize operating in your community. During site visits, answer the questions behind the spreadsheet: Where would executives and employees live? Where would their children attend school? Which airport would they use? What would the drive look like? Bring successful local businesses into the conversation. Give prospects opportunities to hear from companies already succeeding in your community. Their experience can help establish confidence that the prospect can succeed there too. Treat a location decision as a long-term relationship. Thane describes these decisions as potentially 50-year commitments. Think beyond winning the announcement and demonstrate why the company can operate successfully over the long haul. Use AI to gather and organize information, not replace judgment. AI can help process datasets, collect information, and accelerate analytical work, but ranking alternatives, evaluating sites, negotiating incentives, and making final decisions still require experience and judgment. Spend the time AI saves on people. Use automation to create more room for business retention visits, prospect relationships, community engagement, conferences, conversations, and the other human interactions technology cannot replicate. Special Guest: Thane Hutcheson.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Amy Renner, Community Development Senior Program Manager for the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), about what rural communities really need to move economic development projects forward. Drawing on her experience as the former mayor of a 1,000-person Appalachian community and her current work providing technical assistance across rural America, Amy explains why limited staff capacity can be a bigger obstacle than limited funding, how relationships can unlock resources that communities cannot provide for themselves, and why grants work best when paired with planning and technical expertise. They explore RCAP’s work through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities program, examples involving outdoor recreation, infrastructure, mixed-use development, transportation, and entrepreneurship, and the importance of community-led planning that produces action instead of another report sitting on a shelf. The conversation ultimately makes the case that transformative rural development starts by building the relationships and capacity necessary to turn good ideas into projects that are actually ready to fund and implement. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Amy Renner.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Will Williams, president and CEO of the Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership, about how economic development has changed over his career: from paper RFIs and long project timelines to massive capital investments, compressed decisions, and new infrastructure demands. They dig into Western South Carolina’s effort to develop a 1,900-acre industrial park, the growing constraint of electrical capacity, and the heated debate surrounding data centers. Will argues that communities should evaluate data centers the same way they evaluate other industrial projects: by looking carefully at infrastructure, utilities, location, tax impact, jobs, and community compatibility rather than reacting to misinformation or fear. The conversation ultimately becomes one about trust, communication, zoning, AI, long-term community building, and the economic developer’s role as the “connective tissue”, or, as Will puts it, “community duct tape”, that holds people and institutions together. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Start planning electrical capacity earlier. Large projects increasingly require enormous amounts of generation and transmission capacity, making power availability a fundamental site-readiness issue rather than something to address after a prospect appears. Build sites for the next generation of projects, not the last one. Western South Carolina spent years assembling 1,900 acres because larger contiguous sites with strong interstate and workforce access can take years to create. Treat data centers like any other industrial prospect. Examine electricity, water, sewer, noise, location, jobs, taxes, and infrastructure requirements instead of automatically treating the industry as either uniquely good or uniquely bad. Put intensive uses where they belong. Good land-use planning and appropriate buffers can prevent many conflicts before a project is announced. Will specifically points to industrial locations and property-line noise standards as tools communities can use. Don't mistake the loudest voices for the entire community. Public meetings can amplify a small group of highly motivated opponents, so economic developers and elected officials should seek broader community understanding before assuming opposition is universal. Communicate before controversy forces you to. Economic development can no longer happen entirely “in the kitchen.” Practitioners need systems for explaining projects publicly while still respecting legitimate company confidentiality. Use your track record to build trust. When skepticism is high, point to previous projects, their actual outcomes, and the community's experience rather than relying only on promises about a new project. Recognize that automation changes jobs more often than it simply eliminates them. Will compares today's AI concerns with earlier fears around manufacturing automation, which increased the need for more skilled workers even as processes became more automated. Think in decades. Will expects the new industrial park to develop over roughly 25 years. Economic developers should be comfortable investing in infrastructure and assets whose full payoff may come long after their own tenure. Build a network far beyond the usual power players. Will's career advice is to “grow where you're planted” and know as many people as possible—not just utility executives and elected officials. Those relationships become sources of information, introductions, and problem-solving capacity. Special Guest: Will Williams.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Bethany Quinn, president of Golden Shovel Agency, explains why communities that punch above their weight concentrate their resources on one or two genuine strengths. She and Dane discuss how specificity makes communities memorable, why economic development marketing must address local stakeholders as well as outside prospects, and how disconnected marketing projects waste money. Bethany also shares how AI is changing website content, why FAQ pages are becoming more important, and how a single word can reshape perceptions of a community. Most importantly, she makes the case for showing the daily work behind economic development before budget season forces leaders to ask what the organization actually does. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Bethany Quinn.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Mike Swesey, president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corporation, about how St. Pete has worked to become known as a business destination as well as a place with beaches, culture, and quality of life. Mike shares lessons from recruiting companies from markets like New York and Europe, explains why responsiveness can determine whether a community even stays on a site selector’s list, and makes the case for targeting companies that genuinely fit your workforce and community. He also discusses using existing companies as your best salespeople, taking every project lead seriously, resisting the pressure to chase bad-fit wins, knowing your market deeply, and communicating constantly with your board so they understand the work happening before the announcements arrive. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Make responsiveness part of your competitive strategy. Mike argues that companies are making decisions faster and communities may be shortlisted before they even know a project exists. Have your data, website, property information, and team ready so you can respond accurately within hours or days rather than scrambling after the request arrives. Treat every legitimate-looking lead seriously until you know otherwise. Mike tells the story of nearly dismissing what sounded like a questionable data-center inquiry that turned out to be Google. Unknown company names, informal inquiries, or unusual approaches should be investigated rather than automatically discarded. Target companies that fit the workforce you actually have. St. Pete focuses on industries and companies that align with its existing workforce rather than simply pursuing any company willing to listen. Build recruitment targets around the skills, occupations, graduates, and industry experience already present in your market. Use existing companies as third-party validators. Successful companies can become some of your strongest recruiters. Mike describes connecting prospects with executives who have already relocated or expanded in St. Pete and letting those executives talk candidly about their experience without the EDC in the room. Look beyond complete headquarters relocations. A company does not have to abandon its existing headquarters for your community to win. Expansion operations, new growth, regional offices, and future hiring can produce substantial economic impact even when the original location remains open. Know your product well enough to answer hard questions without bluffing. Companies and consultants often already know the answer when they ask about your workforce, education system, demographics, or costs. Know the numbers well enough to respond confidently and accurately instead of trying to “fake it till you make it.” Don’t oversell your community just to get an announcement. A recruitment win becomes a problem if the company arrives and discovers that the promised workforce, costs, or operating conditions do not exist. Focus on creating successful long-term customers rather than maximizing short-term announcements. Understand who is actually moving into your community. Population growth alone is not enough. Mike recommends knowing the ages, skills, education levels, graduation pipeline, and workforce characteristics of the people entering your market so you understand whether your growth supports your business recruitment strategy. Communicate activity to your board before they have to ask about results. Economic development is a long game, and announcements do not happen on a predictable schedule. Keep board members informed about marketing campaigns, prospect activity, outreach, and other leading indicators so they understand the work underway even during quiet periods. Build trust through authenticity and consistency. Mike emphasizes being real, professional, transparent, and trustworthy. Economic developers are asking executives and site-selection professionals to make decisions with long-term consequences, so credibility matters as much as salesmanship.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Andrew Sloss discusses his transition to independent consulting and the lessons he has learned from nearly two decades in site selection and incentive negotiations. He explains why an initial “no” from a community may reflect a misunderstanding, a lack of available tools, or simply bad timing, and how better communication and persistence can create new possibilities. Andrew also shares a retention project involving a struggling retailer, including how communities used job grants, workforce funds, and university tuition benefits to help keep locations open. The conversation covers demonstrating a company’s broader community value, building flexible incentive programs, avoiding compliance failures, maintaining long-term relationships, and using AI carefully in site selection work. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Treat an initial “no” as a signal to clarify the request, not necessarily as the final decision. When a project does not create new jobs or investment, look for ways to demonstrate its broader community value. Assess whether a business provides essential services that residents would have to travel significantly farther to access. Review existing programs—such as workforce, façade, landscaping, or downtown grants—for unused funds and possible flexibility. Discuss unusual retention requests internally with elected officials and local leadership before dismissing them. Be transparent about what you can and cannot provide, and explain the limits of your authority clearly. Maintain strong relationships with site selectors, consultants, and company representatives before a project arrives. When negotiating incentives, discuss whether the answer is a hard no, a temporary no, or a maybe that could change with a stronger business case. Build incentive compliance responsibilities into multiple people’s roles so the process does not disappear when one employee leaves. Use AI for administrative support and high-level research, but double- and triple-check buildings, people, and other site-selection facts before relying on them. Special Guest: Andrew Sloss.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Lavera Alexander about how the Monterey Bay region is positioning itself at the forefront of advanced air mobility. Lavera explains how four public-use airports, aircraft manufacturers, research institutions, workforce partners, and community leaders are being brought together into a coordinated flight network designed to accelerate testing and commercialization. The conversation explores the importance of airport infrastructure, public-private partnerships, community participation, and certification-based career pathways that can lead to high-paying jobs without requiring a four-year degree. For economic developers, the Monterey Bay story demonstrates how smaller and rural regions can compete in emerging industries by recognizing their existing assets, convening the right partners, preparing before funding becomes available, and making public benefit central to the strategy. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Inventory what is already happening. Identify existing employers, airports, research institutions, training programs, infrastructure, and geographic advantages before trying to create a new industry cluster. Connect isolated activities into a regional strategy. Separate companies, airports, and institutions become more competitive when their work is coordinated around a shared goal. Prepare before funding becomes available. Use regional planning processes to develop relationships, document opportunities, and create an implementation plan so the region can move quickly when state or federal funding opens. Lead with your region’s distinct advantages. Smaller regions do not need to imitate major technology hubs. They can compete by offering specialized assets, terrain, facilities, partnerships, or capabilities that larger metros cannot easily reproduce. Explain the public benefit early. Do not focus solely on how impressive a new technology is. Show residents how it could improve transportation, healthcare access, logistics, employment, or quality of life. Bring the community into the process before commercialization. Give residents opportunities to ask questions, influence priorities, and understand how they can participate instead of expecting them to catch up later. Create workforce pathways that do not require four-year degrees. Work with community colleges, universities, employers, philanthropies, and grantmakers to develop affordable certification programs connected to real jobs. Assess infrastructure readiness honestly. Evaluate what local airports and other public assets need in terms of upgrades, capacity, equipment, and supporting infrastructure before recruiting additional activity. Treat questions and resistance as opportunities for education. Concerns about change often reflect uncertainty. Respond with practical information, specific use cases, and clear explanations of what is known and what is still being developed. Combine sector expertise with economic development expertise. Technical consultants understand the industry, but economic developers bring convening, partnership-building, funding, workforce, inclusion, and community implementation skills that are essential to success. Special Guest: Lavera Alexander.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Liz Maxwell, chief of staff at the Idea Village, about how communities can support high-growth startups as part of a broader economic development strategy. Liz explains what accelerators actually do, how they differ from incubators and traditional small-business programs, and why capital is often not the real bottleneck for emerging companies. They explore the four ingredients of a healthy venture ecosystem, talent, capital, customers, and access to interesting problems, and discuss how the Gulf South can build globally relevant companies around energy, manufacturing, ports, coastal resilience, and other real-world challenges. Liz also shares how communities can avoid “startup theater,” measure meaningful results through revenue, capital, and jobs, and make a practical case for homegrown innovation to local boards and stakeholders. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Liz Maxwell.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Melissa James, founding president and CEO of REACH Central Coast, about building a regional economic development organization amid the anticipated closure of Diablo Canyon, persistent affordability challenges, and a fragmented approach to growth. Melissa explains how the Central Coast organized around its distinctive assets in energy, space and aerospace, and high tech; set a goal of creating 15,000 good-paying jobs by 2030; and connected that strategy to workforce development and housing. She also shares practical lessons about private-sector leadership, cross-sector coalitions, memorandums of understanding, institutional continuity, the patience required for long-term development, and the surprisingly powerful role ceremony can play in sustaining shared ownership and momentum. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Melissa James.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Damian Denmark, economic development director for the City of Yukon, Oklahoma, about what it looks like to build an economic development department in a fast-growing suburban community northwest of Oklahoma City. Damian shares how his move to Liberal, Kansas changed the way he thinks about community, belonging, and the people-first side of economic development. The conversation moves from rural marketing and relationship-building to Yukon’s new incentive policy, the Miller Crossing project, TIFs, sports tourism, and the increasingly complicated question of data centers. For economic developers, this episode is a reminder that projects matter, but trust, policy, infrastructure, and community buy-in are what make growth work. 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Build the relationship before you need the deal. Damian’s approach is clear: trust opens doors with property owners, developers, tenant reps, brokers, city departments, and regional partners. Create policy before the pressure hits. Yukon’s work on incentive and economic development policies gave the city a framework for handling projects, negotiations, and community expectations. Treat residents as part of the project equation. Especially in communities reliant on sales tax, residents need to see why a project matters and how it benefits the place they live, work, and raise families. Use incentives to create community value, not just close deals. Yukon’s requirements around chamber membership, public art, city services, and community impact show how development agreements can ask more from projects. Do the infrastructure homework early. For data centers and other major projects, water, power, utilities, noise, and capacity questions need to be understood before promises are made. Do not reduce data centers to job counts. Damian notes that a data center may bring only 20 to 25 jobs, but the broader financial and infrastructure deal can still matter if negotiated well. Know what your community can realistically support. Economic developers should understand market capacity, utility capacity, resident concerns, and policy constraints before pursuing major industrial or technology projects. Move quickly, but do not confuse speed with sloppiness. Yukon’s Miller Crossing TIF moved in less than 60 days, but Damian also emphasized the stress, negotiation, and policy work behind that speed. Let personal experience shape professional practice. Damian’s time in Liberal, Kansas changed how he thinks about belonging, service, and the human side of economic development. Remember that buildings do not build communities by themselves. Projects, investment, and development matter, but the strongest communities are built through people, trust, participation, and shared pride. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Damien Denmark.

In this episode Dane talks with Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, about Detroit’s current economic momentum and what other communities can learn from it. Kevin explains why “comeback city” no longer fully captures Detroit’s story, how technology, manufacturing, real estate, sports, tourism, and earned media are reshaping the city’s market position, and why neighborhood commercial corridors matter to both residents and corporate decision-makers. The conversation also digs into Motor City Match, startup investment, grocery access, DEGC’s role as a consistent economic development partner across administrations, and the need for economic developers to lead community conversations before projects reach the public hearing stage. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Move past outdated narratives. If your community is still being described by an old story, build a clearer explanation of what is happening now and why the market should care. Turn earned media into market momentum. When outside publications, events, or visitors validate your community, use that attention to reinforce your business attraction message. Treat neighborhoods as part of the business case. Corporate decision-makers care whether employees can live near quality housing, services, and commercial corridors. Support storefronts as neighborhood stabilization tools. Small business grants, façade improvements, and corridor-focused programs can create visible investment, jobs, and community confidence at the same time. Build entrepreneurship programs around local people. Kevin emphasized that many Detroit entrepreneurs come from the neighborhoods themselves; programs should recognize and support that local ownership. Use startup funding to anchor future growth. If you invest in early-stage companies, tie that support to a commitment that they build and scale in your community. Make access and inclusion measurable. DEGC points to who receives support through its programs, including women, minority entrepreneurs, and native Detroiters, so the public can see whether the work reflects the city. Keep economic development steady across political transitions. A clear report card, consistent outcomes, and strong public authority management can help preserve trust when administrations change. Lead community conversations early. For major projects, do not wait until the zoning or planning meeting to address concerns about utilities, infrastructure, schools, roads, water, or community benefits. Know whether your community really wants growth. Kevin’s advice to younger economic developers was blunt: read your city honestly, seek buy-in, and do not spend your best years fighting a place that does not want the work you were hired to do. Special Guest: Kevin Johnson.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane talks with Janae Stark about the Community Economic Revitalization Board’s “right project, right time” approach to rural economic development, from planning and project development to infrastructure financing, construction timelines, and what happens when projects go sideways. Janae shares how CERB works with communities and federally recognized tribes in Washington State, why trust and relationship-building matter as much as funding, and how infrastructure like buildings, roads, utilities, and rural broadband can unlock opportunity for small communities. The conversation also explores the less visible work behind successful projects, the importance of helping communities avoid bad bets, and why economic developers need spaces to learn from one another instead of reinventing the wheel alone. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! 10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Start with project readiness, not the application. Before pursuing funding, work backward from the business or community timeline and identify permits, environmental review, match funding, private investment, and approvals needed to get to contract. Treat planning as economic development work. Use planning funds and community outreach to clarify what the community actually wants to become, not just what project happens to be available. Build relationships before things go wrong. Communities are more likely to call early when a business partner pulls out or a project changes if they already trust you. Be willing to coach communities toward the right funder. If your program is not the best fit, help the community find the organization or funding source that can get them to yes. Do not confuse urgency with readiness. A project can look exciting on paper but still be too risky if the private partner, repayment plan, permits, or timeline are not solid. Ask whether the infrastructure can support more than one possible business. Projects are safer when the building, road, utility, or site improvement can be reused or marketed to another company if the original deal falls apart. Help elected officials and board members understand the invisible work. Explain the project development, relationship management, and risk reduction that happen long before a groundbreaking or ribbon cutting. Recognize that different infrastructure has different economic impacts. Buildings, roads, water, sewer, and electricity may directly enable business expansion, while broadband may improve community competitiveness in broader, less immediately visible ways. Create peer networks for practitioners. New economic developers need places to ask basic questions, decode acronyms, find funding calendars, and learn from communities that have already solved similar problems. Show up and listen locally. Especially for people new to economic development, attending community meetings, listening to difficult voices, validating concerns, and asking experienced practitioners for help are essential parts of learning the work. Special Guest: Janea Stark.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Michael Hecht, CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc., about the deeper economic story behind a region best known for food, music, culture, and Mardi Gras. Michael explains how New Orleans’ economy is rooted in maritime, energy, defense, aerospace, and industrial innovation, and why long-term recovery after major disruption requires sustained leadership, trust, humility, and coalition-building. The conversation covers GNO Inc.’s approach to business environment work, the “power of powerlessness,” regional trust-building across 10 parishes, the importance of focusing resources on sectors with real strategic fit, and why economic developers should study history and political science if they want to create lasting change. Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Michael Hecht.