Wednesday, July 29, 2015
MEDA 2015 Summer Conference: Marketing & Business Attraction
- This event has passed.
How do you position a community as a product and illustrate its strengths, its character and its identifying features and then, how do you represent that product in order to attract employers to locate in your community? Knowing your community is a nuanced exploration in assessment, inventory and the SWOT exercise that further illuminates and delineates a community’s assets. It is also the ground work for developing a brand, identifying target market and driving the message.
The MEDA Summer Conference will provide an overview of Marketing & Business Attraction, including how to identify your product, best ways to position your product, and how to identify the value of your product in a competitive market.
Below is the presentation by Joe Greco about the Port of Baltimore
Below is the keynote presentation by Secretary Mike Gill
Click here to view the MEDA 2015 Summer Conference Agenda
Click here to view the MEDA Annual Conference Business Meeting Minutes
SOLD OUT!
When
Wed, Jul 29, 2015 @ 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where
World Trade Center, 21st Floor
401 E Pratt St
Baltimore , MD
Conference Speakers
The MEDA 2015 Summer Conference: Marketing & Business Attraction Speakers
Sandy Sponaugle is the CEO & Founder of Platinum PR. Sandy is a publicist, marketing consultant, public speaker, spokesperson, and public relations team leader.
Since 2002, Sandy has guided her company to help small businesses and community organizations get exposure for their services and build engagement with their target audience. Sandy is passionate about helping communities in the mid-Atlantic region grow and diversify their economies and job opportunities for residents. She brings her expertise in communications, social media, marketing, economic development, and tourism to help clients create & implement customized communications plans right for them.
Sandy previously served as a Business Development Specialist in the Frederick County Office of Economic Development in Frederick, MD. Sandy is an active community member, with membership in various organizations — the American Advertising Federation of Greater Frederick, the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce, the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
As a graduate of Shepherd University, with a Bachelor of Science in economics and business administration, she serves on the board of directors for the Scarborough Society of Shepherd University and the Shepherd University Alumni Association. She also serves on the board of directors for the Jefferson High School LSIC and the Washington High School Business Advisory Council. Sandy believes in “service above self” and is an active member of the Shepherdstown Rotary.
Sandy received the Van Ryzin Award for volunteerism from the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle. Sandy has also been recognized as a Young Gun by West Virginia Executive Magazine for her entrepreneurial successes and community service activities. And she was recognized as the PR Professional of the Year by The American Advertising Federation – Greater Frederick (2013).
Jayson Knott is Senior Director of the Office of Business Development at the Maryland Department of Commerce. He leads teams responsible for attracting new businesses to Maryland, growing existing Maryland businesses, and providing assistance to Maryland small businesses. Knott began his tenure with the Department in 1998, first working in publications and advertising, and then moving into business development in 2000. Prior to the Maryland Department of Commerce, he spent nine years coordinating publications for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Knott received his BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1987, and has completed numerous continuing education courses with IEDC. A Westminster native, Knott lives in Towson with his wife and two sons.
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was sworn in as Baltimore’s 49th mayor on February 4, 2010. In November 2011, she was elected to her first full term as Mayor, receiving 87% percent of the vote in the mayoral general election. Mayor Rawlings-Blake has focused her administration on growing Baltimore’s population by 10,000 families over the next decade by improving public safety and public education and by strengthening city neighborhoods.
Mayor Rawlings-Blake became the 73rd President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) in June 2015, and serves on the USCM Board of Trustees and in key leadership positions such as the Mayor’s Water Council, and the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee. Mayor Rawlings-Blake was also elected to a top leadership position in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to serve as Secretary, following the historic reelection of President Barack Obama.
In 2013, Mayor Rawlings-Blake presented, Change to Grow: A Ten-Year Financial Plan for Baltimore, the City’s first long-range financial plan. The plan includes a bold set of major reforms that amount to the most significant changes to the way the City does business in generations. The plan would help achieve the mayor’s goal to grow Baltimore by 10,000 families by eliminating a nine-year $750 Million structural budget deficit; allowing new investments in neighborhood infrastructure—including repairing roads and City facilities and rebuilding ten recreation centers; and providing a funding surge for the demolition of more than 4,000 vacant homes; all while reducing homeowner property taxes by more than 20% over the next ten years.
In 2012, Mayor Rawlings-Blake worked with state leaders to pass the Civil Marriage Protection Act and subsequent state ballot initiative, allowing same-sex couples to obtain a civil marriage license in Maryland. When the new law took effect on January 1, 2013, Mayor Rawlings-Blake presided over the first same-sex marriages in Maryland’s history at a midnight ceremony at Baltimore’s City Hall.
Mayor Rawlings-Blake has also worked to make Baltimore a welcoming city for immigrants. She signed a landmark executive order to protect new Americans from discrimination and increase access to public safety resources and City services for foreign-born city residents. In addition, Mayor Rawlings-Blake fought for a successful state-wide ballot initiative, known as the Dream Act, to provide in-state tuition rates and higher education opportunities for undocumented immigrant students that attended Maryland high schools.
Rawlings-Blake served as City Council President from January 2007 to February 2010. She was first elected to the City Council in 1995, at the age of 25—the youngest person ever elected to the Baltimore City Council. She represented the council’s 5th District from 1995 to 2004 and the 6th District from 2004 to 2007, serving communities throughout West and Northwest Baltimore. As Council President, she chaired the City’s Board of Estimates, which supervises all purchasing by the City. From 1998 to 2006, Rawlings-Blake was an attorney with the Baltimore Office of the Public Defender.
Rawlings-Blake has been honored with numerous awards and recognitions. In 2013, she was awarded the First Citizen Award by the Maryland State Senate, a top honor for dedicated and effective participants in the process of making government work for the benefit of all. She was selected by The Daily Record as one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” in 2007 and 2011. The National Congress of Black Women named her a Shirley Chisholm Memorial Award Trailblazer. The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs named her one of Baltimore’s “Young Women on the Move.”
Rawlings-Blake is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Epsilon Omega Chapter and member of the The Links, Inc., Baltimore City Chapter. She has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Baltimore Convention and Tourism Board; the Baltimore Museum of Art; the National Aquarium in Baltimore; Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, Inc.; Living Classrooms Foundation; the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore; and Parks and People Foundation.
Born on March 17, 1970, Rawlings-Blake is a 1988 graduate of Baltimore’s Western High School, and in 1992 she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1995. She is a member of the Federal Bar Association and the Maryland State Bar Association. Rawlings-Blake is a member of Douglas Memorial Community Church. She lives in Baltimore’s Coldspring neighborhood with her husband Kent Blake and their young daughter Sophia.
Joe Greco is the Director of Intermodal / Trade Development for the Maryland Port Administration. He is responsible for all of the port associated rail business outside of terminal operations as well as commercial efforts for the port’s container business. He started his carrier with the MPA as a sales and marketing administrator in 2009 and was promoted to Deputy Director of Marketing in 2010.
Mr. Greco has built relationships with all of the major container lines, meeting with representatives on both a domestic and international basis. He and his team also directly engage beneficial cargo owners (BCO’s) pursuing the MPA’s interests of cargo growth. Mr. Greco works closely with the Maryland Department of Transportation on rail and intermodal issues as well as working with Class 1 and short-line railroads. He has helped build a partnership with Ports America Chesapeake in marketing the capabilities of Baltimore and Seagirt Marine Terminal.
Joe began his maritime career in 1996 with Columbia Coastal Transport. At Columbia he served in various capacities from Port Captain to Regional Manager. After Columbia Coastal Joe served as Senior VP for the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore which acts as the shipping association for the Port of Baltimore.
He is currently co-chair of the Port’s Container QCHAT quality program.
Joe is a graduate from the University of Scranton and lives in Jarrettsville, MD with his wife Sarah and their three children.
As Director of Marketing and Communications for the Economic Alliance, Kristi is responsible for developing strategic marketing and public relations campaigns to generate awareness of Greater Baltimore as a world-class market in which to live, work, learn and invest, and to help achieve the Economic Alliance’s goals related to attracting and retaining business in Greater Baltimore.
She has extensive experience in public relations, marketing and development including serving as the Senior Account Executive for Nevins & Associates, Director of Marketing for Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, and Director of PR and Marketing for the Maryland Historical Society.
Kristi is a lifelong Baltimore resident, who is passionate about mentoring young women. She is Vice President of Notre Dame of Maryland University’s Alumnae Executive Board and chairs its Networking and Leadership Committee. She is an active community volunteer and has served as a member of marketing committees for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake and the Woman’s Industrial Exchange, and currently is an ELU Ambassador for the United Way of Central Maryland. She was named one of The Daily Record’s Leading Women in 2011.
Judy Lee brings to DCI almost 15 years of public relations and marketing experience, having worked with a diverse portfolio of clients including more than 20 destinations, major consumer brands, authors, non-profit organizations and public affair initiatives. A savvy and versatile communications specialist, she has developed and led multiple award-winning marketing campaigns, and raised brand awareness and national recognition for her clients through a combination of media relations, social media, integrated partnerships and customized communications programs.
Notable Results at DCI
Judy has spearheaded and led integrated marketing campaigns for cities, regions, states and countries including Atlantic City (NJ), Phoenix, San Diego, Columbus (OH), Chattanooga, El Paso, Northwest Arkansas, Michigan and Thailand – with a track record for delivering quality results and favorable media exposure on behalf of her clients.
Judy has built and successfully executed dozens of communications programs tailored to each economic development organization’s needs, combining a wide mix of communications tactics including media relations, digital media, marketing plan development, website development and industry outreach.
Judy’s public relations efforts have generated editorial features for clients in almost every national business outlet including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Forbes, Fortune and The Atlantic. On the television side, she has secured appearances on Bloomberg TV, Morning Joe, and national morning programs.
Judy has provided senior-level business executives and political leaders including Mayors, Governors and Lt. Governors with advice and counsel on how to get community messages in the national media.
Judy is often called to present best practices in economic development marketing at industry events and on webinars
With a keen eye for identifying story opportunities, Judy saw the chance to promote Chattanooga’s gigabit internet service when in 2013 the Iron Man 3movie misrepresented Chattanooga by depicting it as a small, backwater, Southern town. Judy worked with the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce to “set the record straight” with good old fashion PR. Within 72 hours of reaching out to top tier media, tech outlets such as Business Insider, PC Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and CNET picked up the story. The story eventually went viral with more than 200 media having published, mentioned, or shared on social channels a variant of the story, including Forbes.com and Yahoo! Movie Talk blog.
Since 2014, Ammanuel Moore has served as BGE’s Economic Development Manager. Through the promotion and use of BGE programs and services, he is responsible for assisting state and local economic and business development agencies in their efforts of business attraction, development, retention, and growth in central Maryland.
Prior to his current role, Ammanuel worked in BGE’s Corporate Communications department serving as senior eChannels Program Manager, where he developed and led the company’s efforts in digital and social media communications for BGE’s 1.2 million electric and 655,000 customers.
Ammanuel is an active member or regularly participates in in several professional organizations including the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, Maryland Economic Development Association, the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the Utility Economic Development Association.
Ammanuel is engaged in his community, serving as an Edreco little league softball coach for the past seven years. He is a graduate of Morgan State University with a BS degree and Communications and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University with an MA in Communications.
Mark G. Levy is Managing Director and Mid-Atlantic Industrial Practice Group Leader for JLL. He also leads the firm’s U.S. Port, Airports and Global Infrastructure Practice. In the Mid-Atlantic, Mark has direct responsibility and oversight for all of the Practice Group’s activities in the region, including capital markets, agency and corporate occupier representation. Mark’s specific transactional focus is industrial investor services, which includes investment sales, land sales and development/entitlement consulting. In addition, Mark serves as the Market Leader for JLL’s Greater Baltimore/Suburban Washington Region, where he maintains full responsibility for all JLL operations across all service lines.
Experience
Mark’s highly diverse career has spanned over 23 years and has included senior leadership roles in asset management, investment and development within both public and private real estate companies. Immediately prior to joining JLL, Mark served as Investment Officer/ Regional Head of Capital Deployment in the Eastern United States for Prologis (NYSE:PLD). Formerly, he ran the company’s Mid –Atlantic operations, with responsibility for all company activities including asset management, development, acquisitions and leasing. Mark’s previous positions also include South Florida Regional Vice President for Duke Realty Corporation (NYSE: DRE) and Regional Vice President/General Manager of Florida operations for Opus Corporation. Mark started his career in commercial real estate in New York City in 1991.
Educations, Honors and Affiliations
Mark currently serves as a member of the faculty of the Georgetown University Master’s in Real Estate Program and as a member of the board of Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship at the George Mason University School of Management. Mark was a dual Honors Economics and English major at Syracuse University and is a member of the Washington, DC Area Alumni Association. Mark furthermore serves as Chair of the NAIOP National Development Forum; Vice Chairman of the NAIOP Northern Virginia Chapter and serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He is also an active member of the United States Capital Historical Society, the World Affairs Council and the Economic Club of Washington.
Tracy Gosson is President of Baltimore-based Sagesse, Inc., a full-service branding and marketing firm founded in 2007 that offers high-impact business and economic development marketing expertise for corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations.
Tracy is the founding executive director of Live Baltimore Home Center, the entity solely responsible for attracting and retaining residents to the city. She developed an internationally recognized organization that has been replicated by many other communities and is still today considered to be one of the most successful urban marketing efforts in the country.
Prior to Live Baltimore, she spent ten years working “behind the camera” in television and film in various U.S. media markets. Tracy is a national speaker and expert on branding and marketing communities.
Shannon Landwehr is the Executive Vice President of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, a regional economic development marketing organization and leads the EAGB’s location strategy efforts. The primary focus of her work is corporate and small-to-medium business education in the Baltimore region, particularly as it pertains to location and workforce strategy decisions. Shannon also focuses on regional talent, workforce recruitment, understanding the needs of Baltimore’s regional businesses, and working with them in partnership to identify areas of opportunity. She is also Executive Director of the EAGB Foundation.
Prior to joining the Economic Alliance Shannon was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and served as the Baltimore General Manager, and a Global Client Relationship Manager in Morgan Stanley’s Workforce Strategy Division. As General Manager, she advanced the Firm’s workforce and outsourcing strategy, and led the operational infrastructure of the office for 1,200 employees in Operations, Finance, Legal & Compliance, Human Resources, Corporate Services and Technology & Data.
As a Client Relationship Manager, Shannon was responsible for providing advisory services to internal business units regarding their global workforce strategy and outsourcing regulatory requirements, and overseeing the execution of their transition plans. She managed several clients, including Research, Sales & Trading, Bank Resource Management and Legal & Compliance. In her tenure at Morgan Stanley Shannon also served as the Baltimore Chief Operating Officer.
Shannon has over 15 years of experience in finance, non-profits, marketing and consulting. Before joining Morgan Stanley, Shannon was the Chief Operating Officer at the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, where she also served as the Director of Marketing and Research. She has held other positions with TischlerBise, Mercer (Marsh & McLennan) Consulting, WorldCom and Commercial Real Estate firms.
Shannon earned her Master of Arts degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Finance from the University of Arizona, Eller College of Management.
Shannon is also actively involved in various community initiatives throughout the Greater Baltimore and Mid-Atlantic regions with a focus on programs impacting children and animals. She currently resides in Baltimore City, Maryland.
Keasha Haythe has served as Dorchester County’s Economic Development Director since 2008. She has developed a track record of initiating sound policies and innovative strategies to foster economic growth. Partnering with private and public stakeholders, she has championed education, entrepreneurism and expansion of existing businesses as key economic drivers in the county.
Ms. Haythe manages a team of professionals focused on providing technical assistance, program resources and financial incentives to help attract and retain businesses. She unveiled a new countywide cooperative marketing initiative and implemented a multiplatform branding campaign entitled “water moves us.” She spearheaded the development of Dorchester’s 113-acre Regional Technology Park that will soon house the “Eastern Shore Innovation Center” the Mid-Shore’s first purpose built business incubator.
Ms. Haythe is a Certified Economic Developer, a national recognition of professional skill mastery that denotes the highest levels of professional attainment and a commitment to continued growth. She is a member of many professional organizations and serves on a number of public and nonprofit boards including the Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center, Dorchester County Public Schools Superintendent Advisory Council and Minority Achievement Task Force.
Ms. Haythe serves as President of the Maryland Economic Development Association Board of Directors. This year she was recognized by the Daily Record as one of their Top 100 Women. Additionally, in 2012 she was recognized by the Daily Record as one of their leading women under 40.
A Maryland native, Ms. Haythe is a member of TriLife Christian Center in Easton where she serves on the Ministerial Team as an Ordained Evangelist. She is married to Marcus L. Haythe Sr., and they have three children.
Secretary Mike Gill is a business leader with four decades of experience as an entrepreneur, a veteran of large technology firms, and a public servant. He was tapped by Governor Larry Hogan to lead the Department of Business and Economic Development in January 2015. Prior to his appointment, Gill led Evergreen Advisors, an investment bank, as chairman and principal starting in 2008. Previously, Gill founded Hoyt Capital, an investment and advisory firm serving startups and growth companies. Gill also founded First Page, which was acquired by Metrocall; served as chairman of Curtis Engine, a Baltimore power generator company; and was chairman of Bluefire Security Technologies, a mobile cybersecurity developer, from 2006 to 2008. In 1981, Gill founded AMERICOM, a Baltimore-based provider of cellular products and services to businesses in the area. Under Gill’s leadership, AMERICOM expanded nationwide with more than 1,200 employees and annual revenue topping $70 million in 2000, when it was acquired by Solectron. Gill remained with the electronics manufacturer as a business development executive until 2003. Earlier in his career, he spent time in sales and marketing at IBM, as Director of Data Systems in the mid-Atlantic region for Ernst & Young, and with American Teleservices, the majority shareholder of Cellular One.
Gill served on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents from 2004 to 2009, heading the audit committee and technology transfer and commercialization workgroup. His past and present board memberships also include the Calvert Hall Board of Trustees, Baltimore County Economic Development Commission, St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Bay National Bank, and Towson University of Board of Visitors. He is also a member of the President’s Advisory Board at Clemson University. Gill earned his B.S. in business administration from Towson University in 1974 after first attending Clemson University on a baseball scholarship. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Towson University in 1996.
Conference Sponsors
The MEDA 2015 Summer Conference: Marketing & Business Attraction Sponsors
