Brett Doney, CEcD, FM

President & CEO
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
Great Falls, MT

Brett Doney leads the Great Falls Development Authority, a public/private economic development partnership serving the 13-county Great Falls, Montana trade area. GFDA’s mission is to grow and diversify the Great Falls regional economy, create higher wage career opportunities, and improve market competitiveness. GFDA is active in business startup, retention, expansion, and attraction, workforce, infrastructure, and downtown/riverfront redevelopment. Strategic sectors include food and bio-processing, energy, advanced manufacturing, business services, digital economy, tourism, and defense.

GFDA is a Community Development Financial Institution with $24 million under management, and developer of the 1,300-acre Great Falls AgriTech Park. GFDA manages High Plains Financial, an SBA-certified Development Corporation. GFDA was the first economic development entity in the Rocky Mountain region to earn accreditation from the International Economic Development Council. Doney serves as chair of the Great Falls Downtown Development Partnership, co-chair of Great Falls Tourism, and as director of the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, Montana Economic Developers Association, and Upper Missouri River National Heritage Area Planning Corp.

Doney has over 30 years of experience in urban and rural community economic development from the different perspectives of the non-profit, public and private sectors. His prior positions include: President/CEO of Enterprise Maine, a family of community economic development organizations dedicated to creating economic opportunity and enhancing the quality of life in rural western Maine; Director of the Ft. Devens Reuse Center, a 9,600 acre army base redevelopment effort in Massachusetts; and, President of Doney Associates, a Boston-based consulting firm focused on urban revitalization, public/private real estate development, and innovative economic development.

Doney’s efforts have won awards from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the American Economic Development Council, the International Economic Development Council, the National Association of Development Organizations, the Finance Authority of Maine, the Montana Economic Developers Association, and the National Brownfield Conference. He is a Fellow Member of the International Economic Development Council and serves as chair of IEDC’s Economic Development Research Partners. His professional certifications include Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR), Senior Leader of Corporate Real Estate (SLCR), American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), RMA Credit Risk Certification, Federal Grants Management, Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP), and Economic Gardening®. He is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute of the University of Oklahoma. Doney earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.