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IEDC Annual Conference is about to go global, and in just a few months, you'll be free to move about Canada. This fall, the brightest minds in economic development will be convening in Toronto, Ontario for the largest annual gathering for the profession.

Canada, and especially Toronto, is a great place to study entrepreneurship and a thriving startup ecosystem. In a recent interview, TechStars' David Brown said Canada has a distinct advantage in attracting entrepreneurs because of its supportive ecosystem. A core discussion theme at the 2017 conference will be centered around supporting entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses in your community by various methods.

Here's a quick snapshot of this conference track, Nurturing the Startup Ecosystem:

Supporting entrepreneurship and small business creation is an economic development trend that will never go out of style. The majority of new jobs and innovation are developed from startups and small businesses. As the global economy transforms and competition rises, the need for new business formation throughout local communities has become ever more present. Fortunately, gone are the days when budding small business owners must venture into their entrepreneurial activities alone. The importance of establishing new means of economic growth has generated resources such as incubators, accelerators, main street revitalization grants, educational programs, and other supportive tools which help increase small business scalability. This track will examine the ways economic development organizations can embrace the startup ecosystem strategy within their communities through the bolstering of support for local start-ups and industry expansion.

Check out some concurrent sessions that will follow in this exciting track:

Entrepreneurship, Wherever You Are

Date: Monday, September 18
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The strength of prioritizing entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy is that it can happen anywhere, from metro areas and rural communities. In order to understand the breadth of entrepreneurship experiences, this session will examine the full range of issues that economic developers need to know in order to successfully drive their entrepreneurship strategy. Topics of discussion will include different models of entrepreneurial support programs, inclusion of second stage companies, financial sustainability and communication of results.

What you'll learn:

- Pragmatic strategies and programs for building ecosystems in communities of different sizes
- Creating sustainable programs, from an operations and financial standpoint
- Developing a communications strategy that goes beyond the traditional ecosystem buzz

Speakers:

Amy Clickner, CEcD, CFRM
CEO
Lake Superior Community Partnership
Marquette, MI
See bio

Carol Kraus Lauffer
Principal
Business Cluster Development
Palo Alto, CA
See bio

Penny Lewandowski
Vice President, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Direction
Edward Lowe Foundation
Cassopoils, MI
See bio

Tammie Sweet
Director
GrowFL
Orlando, FL
See bio


An Equitable Approach to Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Date: Tuesday, September 19
Time: 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Local government economic development policies and programs have at times not benefited all populations, including people of color, immigrants and low-income communities. There is a need for cities to be intentional about targeting their economic development programs, funding and policies at the specific populations and neighborhoods that are increasing distant from the growth sectors of their regional and city economy. This session will dive in specific case studies to explore the efforts made in supporting small business and emerging entrepreneurs in low-income communities. This session will be beneficial and informative to everyone that is interested in expanding tools and programs that will benefit communities in a more equitable way.

What you'll learn:

- Exploring how equity is influencing economic development programs, services, and policies to be intentional about supporting entrepreneurial activity in communities of color
- Understanding the role that community engagement, partnerships, outreach, and cross disciplinary collaboration is critical to the equitable economic growth
- Case studies from three US cities that are supporting women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color

Speaker:

Carlos Delgado
Equitable Economic Development Fellowship Program Manager
National League of Cities I Rose Center
Washington, DC
See bio


See the full program.


Keynote & Concurrent Session Speakers Spotlight:

Dr.
Ron Foxcroft

Chairman, Founder & CEO
Fox 40 International Inc.
Hamilton, ON, Canada

Dr. Ron Foxcroft is a logistics entrepreneur. Starting in 1982, he built Fluke Transportation from 3 trucks to 176 trucks and 4 75 trailers. Beginning with 250,000 square feet of warehousing space Fluke grew to 1.3 million square feet. He is Chair of the Hamilton John C Munro Airport the largest packaging freight airport in Canada. He serves on many boards throughout the world. Ron is the Inventor of the Fox 40 Pealess Whistle which is now sold in 140 countries and is sanctioned by almost all major sports worldwide. Fox 40 a Canadian company proudly dominates the world-wide sport and safety whistle industry. See full bio.


Paula Dowell
Senior Associate and Director, National Transportation Economics Group
Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Atlanta, GA

Paula Dowell, PhD is a Principal with Cambridge Systematics with more than 17 years of experience in economic development including 14 years of experience focused on freight and logistics development planning. Dr. Dowell has worked in 35 states and 8 countries for both public and private sector clients. See full bio.


Douglas van den Berghe, PhD
CEO
Investment Consulting Associates (ICA)
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Dr. Douglas van den Berghe (PhD) is the CEO and founder of Investment Consulting Associates - ICA headquartered in Amsterdam and Boston with partner offices around the world and founder of two web based advisory products. See full bio.


Savannah Jermance, CEcD
Economic Development & Business Relations Manager
City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico

For the better part of the last decade, Savannah has served in many roles in economic development including working in proprietary higher education, business attraction at the state level, and most recently a broad spectrum of economic development activities at the municipal level with the City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. She is an experienced business development and economic development professional, having earned her CEcD designation in 2016. See full bio.


Kenneth Meter, MPA
President
Crossroads Resource Center
Minneapolis, MN

Ken Meter is one of the most experienced food system analysts in the U.S., integrating market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns. Meter holds 46 years of experience in inner-city and rural community capacity building, including several tribal organizations. His local economic analyses have promoted local food networks in 129 regions in 39 states and Manitoba. See full bio.


Larisa Ortiz
Principal
Larisa Ortiz Associates
Jackson Heights, NY

Larisa Ortiz is an award winning consultant, speaker, and author in the field of commercial district revitalization. Larisa founded LOA in 2008, and since then has developed retail market and implementation strategies for over 100 districts worldwide. Larisa is the author of "Improving Tenant Mix: A Guide for Commercial District Practitioners" (ICSC, 2015), "Real Estate Redevelopment and Reuse" (IEDC, 2000) and is founder and editor of The Commercial District Advisor newsletter and blog. See full bio.


Gregg Wassmansdorf, MA, PhD (abd), LEED, AP
Senior Managing Director
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Toronto, ON

Gregg Wassmansdorf is a Senior Managing Director at "Newmark Global Strategy", a leading business and real estate consulting organization. As a management consultant, he helps his corporate clients with business location strategy, supply chain realignment, facility portfolio and footprint optimization, site selection, economic incentive negotiation and procurement, workplace strategy, property transaction execution, and capital project implementation. See full bio.


Don't wait till the last minute. Spaces will go fast. Register today and book your room now to stay at the Annual Conference headquarters hotel:

Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
123 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2M9

IEDC Room Rate: $249 CAD single/double
Group Rate Cutoff: Friday, August 25, 2017

Register now
Book your room now

Other important dates:
Conference Dates: September 17-20, 2017
Early Bird Registration Rate Cutoff: June 30, 2017



Pre-Conference Training Course:
 
Economic Development Strategic Planning | September 14-15 | Toronto
 

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This highly interactive course lets participants work in small teams to help understand the complexity of strategic planning and its challenges. Economic developers must build consensus among board members, stakeholders and the community as a whole, creating a unified vision for the future. Learn techniques to build consensus among stakeholders who represent different values and interests. Also, participants will learn the quantitative techniques used to better understand their community including: location quotients, shift share, input-output and cluster analyses.

Course Highlights:

- Stakeholder analysis, structuring participation, planning fundamentals
- Consensus building, group facilitation and conflict
- Defining geography, competitive advantage and SWOT
- Determining vision, mission, goals and objectives

See them all

REGISTER


Instructors:

Eric McSweeney, CEcD, EcD(F), CCIM, ALC
President
McSweeney & Associates
See bio

Jon Roberts
Principal
TIP Strategies, Inc.
See bio

Anne Roise, CEcD MCP
Instructor, Urban Studies & Planning
Savannah State University
See bio

 

Accommodations/Training Location:

Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
123 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2M9

IEDC Room Rate: $249 single/double
Group Rate Cutoff: Friday, August 25, 2017


Discuss entrepreneurship with your peers to develop a strong startup ecosystem in your community at 2017 Annual Conference. All in the heart of downtown Toronto. Register now to save.


IEDC is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization serving economic developers. With more than 5,000 members, IEDC is the largest organization of its kind. Economic developers promote economic well-being and quality of life for their communities by creating, retaining and expanding jobs that facilitate growth, enhance wealth and provide a stable tax base. From public to private, rural to urban and local to international, IEDC's members are engaged in the full range of economic development experience. Given the breadth of economic development work, our members are employed in a wide variety of settings including local, state, provincial and federal governments, public-private partnerships, chambers of commerce, universities and a variety of other institutions. When we succeed, our members create high-quality jobs, develop vibrant communities, and improve the quality of life in their regions.

734 15th Street NW, Suite 900
Washington DC, 20005
Phone: 202.223.7800

Official Hashtags: #IEDC #EconDev

Link: Visit IEDC's website