The MEDA Professional Development Committee assists members in pursuit of their educational goals. The Committee delivers courses enabling members to become Certified Economic Developers (CEcD) and other courses enhancing professional skills. This committee also oversees the delivery of three IEDC courses in Maryland every year, mentors potential certification candidates, and works to include other courses throughout the year.
The Chair of the Professional Development Committee also serves on the Lofton Scholarship Selection Committee (see Lofton Scholarship Fund).
Committee members serve a one-year term beginning in May after the MEDA Annual Conference.
Trish Heidenreich has served as the Economic Development Director for the Town of Bel Air since 2006. Prior to joining the Town, Trish worked in real estate administration and held a 25-year career in the entertainment industry, specializing in concert production logistics, business development and marketing.
Trish sits on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and is Co-Chair of MEDA’s Professional Development Committee. Trish holds a Certification in Economic Development (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Washington and is a member of the Board of Directors. In addition to her certification, she holds a Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Communications and Television Production from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Economic and Tourism Development Director for Kent County, Maryland. Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship. Earned a Master Certificate from the National Association of Counties, Professional Development Academy, High-Performance Leadership in 2020. Shore Leadership Class of 2021. Member of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and a proud member of the Chestertown Rotary Club. Previous experience includes Assistant Plant Manager and Customer Service Manager for a Millwork Distributor and Office Manager for a land surveying business.
Laurie Boyer is the Economic Development Manager in the Division of Fiscal Management for the Montgomery County Government Finance Department. She is responsible for overseeing the County’s economic development incentive programs and for managing contracts with third-party vendors who provide economic development-related services on behalf of the County.
Previously, Laurie served as the Executive Director of Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI), a public-private economic development partnership in the City of Rockville, and as Executive Director for the Frederick County Office of Economic Development.
In May 2006, Boyer earned her professional Economic Development Certification (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council. She has nearly 18 years of economic development experience.
Ms. Boyer is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery Class of 2014 and Leadership Frederick County Class of 1997, serves as Secretary of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) Foundation Board, and is on the MEDA Council of Past Presidents. In 2012, she was named one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” by The Daily Record.
Ms. Boyer has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Spanish from Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA and a Master’s degree in Communication Studies from West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV.
Jim Chandler is a certified Economic Development (CEcD) professional specializing in the management of local urban revitalization, community and economic development efforts including capital improvement projects and programs with Federal, State and local funding.
Jim currently serves as Assistant Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Economic Development in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In this role, Jim leads the County’s real estate development efforts including TOD focused development of the Blue Line Corridor, New Carrolton and the County’s remaining designated growth areas. Prior to his current role, Jim served 16-years as Assistant City Administrator and Director of Community & Economic Development with the City of Hyattsville, Maryland.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimjchandler/
Sharon Disque is the Economic Development Manager for the City of Gaithersburg, Maryland. She has more than 30 years of experience in economic development, including business park development, real estate sales and leasing, corporate site selection, community strategic planning, marketing and market analysis, and downtown redevelopment. Before joining the City of Gaithersburg, Sharon ran a community development corporation, provided real estate consulting services for clients in Maryland and West Virginia, and was Regional Director of Industrial Development for CSX Transportation. She began her career with the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission. Sharon earned a Master’s in Real Estate from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Virginia. She is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD).
Since 2015, Tamar has served on the Regional Growth and Retention team of the Maryland Department of Commerce, the state’s economic development agency. Based in Frederick, Tamar works with businesses across industries and in all stages of the business life cycle to connect them with state and ecosystem resources, develop business opportunities, and address challenges. Prior to joining Commerce, she served as a local government affairs director for the Maryland Association of REALTORS® and led the federal public policy operations at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Tamar holds the Certified Economic Developer designation from the International Economic Development Council. She earned her BA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MPA from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was a Lyndon Baines Johnson Scholar.
With over 25 years of service in state and local economic development agencies, Larry has experience in economic development strategy, legislative policy, entrepreneurship, and community development.
Major areas of expertise include:
Economic development strategy
Business attraction and retention
Entrepreneurship
Small business financing
Business incentives
Disaster response and recovery
Legislative policy
Major accomplishments include facilitating strategic plans that led to the creation of over 30,000 new jobs, $2B in capital investment, and impacting over 12 million sq ft of industrial, office, and retail space. Other accomplishments include launching the Maryland Innovation Center (a 60,000 sq ft incubator, co-working, and collaboration space), leading the business recovery of Ellicott City after the 2016 and 2018 floods, and implementing a small business loan fund that has invested over $18M in over 100 businesses creating almost 900 new jobs.
He was awarded a Governor’s Citation for his role in the Ellicott City flood recovery and received two National Association of Counties (NACO) awards (2021, 2023) for innovative and effective business programs.
He currently leads an economic development practice focused on strategic planning and executive leadership and is a consultant to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration.
Larry is a Past President of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and currently serves on the Public Policy Committee and the Professional Development Committee.
He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Loyola University – Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.
Roger Venezia has been an economic developer for 40 years. He serves as Director of Operations & Special Projects for the Division of Business and Industry Sector Development at the Maryland Department of Commerce. In this capacity he serves as chief administrative officer of the agency’s largest division. He has been with Commerce since 2000.
Mr. Venezia has held marketing, research, and managerial positions for three different county economic development offices in Maryland. He served as Director of the Cecil County Office of Economic Development during which time he led the effort to develop the county’s first economic development strategic plan. He also served as Research Manager for PECO Energy Company of Philadelphia, one of the country’s largest electric utilities.
Mr. Venezia earned his Certified Economic Developer designation in 1988. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a second major in Economics from the University of Delaware.
