1700 N. Moore Street, Suite 2225, Arlington, VA 22209
office (703) 522-4980
fax (703) 522-4985
|
Kenneth E. Poole, Ph.D. Mark White, Ph.D. Pofen Salem, Ph.D. Brandon Curtis Ronald Kelly |
Sean
McNamara Erol Yildirim Dean Frutiger Wen Sun
|
Kenneth E. Poole, PH.D.
Dr.
Kenneth E. Poole is CEO of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness
(CREC) and Executive Director, Council for Community and Economic
Research (C2ER). Dr. Poole has managed economic development research,
analysis, and technical assistance efforts for 25 years. In January
2000, Dr. Poole formed the Center as an independent non-profit
affiliated with George Mason University and C2ER. CREC focuses
on developing a stronger understanding of how regional economies
can compete effectively in the knowledge-based economy. As part
of those efforts, Dr. Poole directs a national nonprofit membership
organization (C2ER) serving economic and community development
researchers in communities, states, academia, and the private
sector. In his capacity of Executive Director, Dr. Poole oversees
all program development activities of the organization including
its research and professional training activities.
As CEO of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, Dr.
Poole is undertaking organizational development, strategic planning,
network building, and technical assistance efforts to foster knowledge-based
economic development. Recent projects have involved managing a
four-year multi-county regional analysis and strategy implementation
process for 12 counties in western North Carolina, guiding a 13-county
legislatively mandated vision plan for a 13-county region in eastern
North Carolina, conducting several industry-related workforce
studies (particularly for the solar and construction trades sectors)
for Arizona, conducing a national study of state economic development
governance, and assisting in facilitating a regional economic
strategy for a 13-county region crossing the Texas-Oklahoma border.
Dr. Poole has also facilitated numerous retreats and working sessions,
including recent planning retreat designed to link the US Department
of Labor's Workforce Innovations for Regional Economic Development
(WIRED) effort with the activities of the US Manufacturing Extension
Partnership (MEP). For the past five years, Dr. Poole has worked
with the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) to develop
a stronger relationship between federal and state investors in
the NIST MEP program.
Dr. Poole speaks frequently to national and statewide audiences
of local leaders and economic development professionals. He worked
with the National Center on Education and the Economy and the
National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) to develop a training
program focused on bringing economic and workforce development
and economic development policy leaders together, presenting the
course in several venues nationally. He recently served as the
lead consultant in developing a workforce development strategy
for the Durham, NC, Workforce Board and developing policy implications
from a cluster study completed for the Upper Rio Grande (El Paso)
Workforce Board. He is also currently aiding three counties in
southern Arizona in implementing a strategic planning effort led
by workforce and economic development leaders.
Before joining the Council for Community and Economic Research (formerly ACCRA) in 2000, he served 6 years as the Director of Domestic Economic Development for the National Association of State Development Agencies. In that capacity, he provided technical assistance and research support to state and local economic development professionals across the US. He developed new project opportunities in technology-based economic development, economic and policy research, and the organization of state-based economic development initiatives. For instance, one project involved an assessment of program evaluation activities being implemented by state economic development initiatives for the US Economic Development Administration. Another involved assessing and designing a new applied industry research program for manufacturing in Alabama. Before joining NASDA, Dr. Poole served 8 years as Director of Technical Assistance and Research for the National Council for Urban Economic Development (now, the International Economic Development Council), managing all publications and technical assistance activities in more than 40 US communities.
On behalf of C2ER, Dr. Poole oversees an on-going national data
collection effort (including the development of a comprehensive
web-based database of 1,600 state business assistance programs),
the Council-published ACCRA Cost of Living Index and training
programs for economic development practitioners, including a national
training institute conducted in collaboration with George Mason
University and several other institutions. Dr. Poole also teaches
and coordinates training offerings related to impact analysis,
research design methods, cluster analysis, benchmarking, targeting,
and other regional economic analyses targeted to economic developers.
Dr. Poole holds a Ph.D. in Regional Development Policy from George
Mason University, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from
The American University, and a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves
on the editorial boards of two journals: Economic Development
Quarterly and Applied Research in Economic Development. He also
serves on the Advisory Board of the Troy University Center for
International Business and Economic Development.
Mark C. White, PH.D.
Dr. Mark White is VP for Research at the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and its sister affiliate, the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). He joined CREC in September 2004 to manage a number of research and technical assistance projects.
Most recently, Dr. White has worked on a variety of projects including a workforce supply and demand study for the North Carolina Workforce Commission and helped facilitating discussions that were intended to lead to policy recommendations addressing the issues raised in that report. He also worked with Arizona's Data Estimates and Projections Taskforce (ADEPT) to support their efforts to improve the states employment and population data. Another recent project involved examining how successful life sciences regions have organized their life sciences development efforts. The goal of the project was to provide a framework for leaders to consider opportunities for expanding the Detroit regional life sciences sector. Over the next year, Dr. White's efforts will be directed toward coordinating and delivering a training curriculum-designed for the US Economic Development Administration-that will strengthen the ability of economic development practitioners to undertake strategic planning.
Other past projects include a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the Isothermal Planning and Development Commission in Western North Carolina, a Visioning Plan for North Carolina's Eastern Region Partnership, as well as assisting in the implementation of a CEDS focused around Hickory, North Carolina. In addition, he recently completed a comprehensive workforce analysis for the Durham (NC) Workforce Development Board and an assessment of the skills and training needs of the construction trades industry for the Arizona Department of Commerce. Among his current ongoing projects include an assessment of the skills and training needs of the Arizona Solar Power Industry, and a nationwide survey designed to assess the role of Community Colleges in Economic Development. He also coordinates C2ER's research and training programs, including the creation of a national database of local taxes affecting businesses.
Prior to joining the Center, Dr. White served as a post-doctoral
research fellow at the National University of Ireland's Centre
for Innovation and Structural Change (CISC) in Galway. In that
position, he conducted qualitative and quantitative research to
assess the regional development consequences of foreign direct
investment, particularly as related to investment in internationally-traded
services. This research has been published in peer-reviewed journals
in the field of regional development and economic geography such
as Environment and Planning A, European Urban and Regional Studies
and European Planning Studies.
In the process of completing his doctoral work, Dr. White served
as an instructor in World Geography and a GIS/Cartographer at
the University of Miami (FL). He also served as a business research
intern for the Beacon Council—Miami-Dade County's primary economic
development organization. Dr. White earned his Ph.D. in International
Studies with a focus on economic development from the University
of Miami (FL), his M.A. in Geography from the Maxwell School Of
Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, and his B.A.
in Geography at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
Dr. Pofen Lin Salem is a senior research fellow at the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness. Dr. Salem is experienced in the research and analysis of economic development policy and programs at the state and local levels, especially in the areas of business investment and incentives, technology development, strategic planning, international trade, public-private partnership, evaluation and performance measurement of economic development activities. In addition to conduct and manage research projects for CREC, Dr. Salem also manages and compiles C2ER's two prominent products – state economic development expenditure database and state business incentive database – that can be used by policy makers for ideas on new policy recommendations, and by economic development professionals for comparing and evaluating existing budget allocations and investment in economic development by states.
In her role with CREC, Dr. Salem recently completed a study of
comparative incentive policies in 11 states from the Midwest and
Southern Regions and implemented an economic and workforce impact
analysis of Military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) for the
Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board. She also conducted
a study of higher education reform in North Carolina and analyzed
the development of a 13- county economic strategic plan for the
Eastern Region in North Carolina. In addition, she completed a
series of studies for the state of Arizona, including the analysis
of Arizona's data estimates and projections on population and
labor force, the opportunities and workforce preparation needs
for Arizona's construction trade industry and potential solar
energy sectors, and the study of the governance of the Arizona
Department of Commerce (AZ DOC), comparing it to 18 other US states.
Prior to joining CREC as a research fellow, Dr. Salem served as
the Director of Research and Economic Development for the National
Association of State Development Agencies (NASDA), where she worked
with federal agencies and state and local economic development
organizations in various business development, technology development,
and export promotion projects. She oversaw and managed all research
activities for the organization and provided technical and research
support to local and state economic development professionals.
Among her research projects was the assessment of the performance
of economic development programs in Oregon, Michigan and Louisiana;
the development of strategic plans for economic development efforts
in North Dakota; and an evaluation of the strategic linkages between
high technology and manufacturing firms in Alabama. She also directed
a national data collection effort on state business investment
and incentives.
A regional economic analyst by training, Dr. Salem has worked with local communities and economic development groups on a wide range of regional economic strategies and development plans, including economic impact assessment, urban growth management, tourism development and promotion, and rural economic development. She worked with local county governments in Oregon and Washington states to evaluate the impact of the tourism industry on the regional economy, where she surveyed more than 4,000 local residents and government officials on their attitudes toward the local tourism development policy. She has also researched the impact of international business on the Washington metropolitan economy. In addition, Dr. Salem has more than five years of international business practice in the private sector, and has done extensive research on international trade and urban development. At NASDA, she also managed a federally sponsored environmental technology transfer program aimed at promoting export opportunities between U.S. and Asian small businesses.
Dr. Salem holds a Ph.D. in Regional Economic Development and
Urban Management from George Mason University, a Masters in Urban
and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon, and a B.A.
in Political Science from the National Cheng-Chi University in
Taiwan. She is fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese dialects.
Erol Yildirim
Erol Yildirim is Senior VP for New Products for the Center for
Regional Economic Competitiveness and its sister nonprofit, the
Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) – formerly
known as ACCRA – a membership organization of economic development
researchers. He serves as the organization's chief economist and
also oversees the Center's web development efforts. Before taking
over his current role, Mr. Yildirim managed the ACCRA Cost of
Living Index project for five years.
Mr. Yildirim has primary responsibility for managing new product
development and dissemination activities for C2ER, enhancing the
organization's existing data products, managing customer relations
with data subscribers and licensees, responding to media inquiries,
and staffing C2ER's technical advisory board of eminent academic
and government economists.
Mr. Yildirim also designs online surveys customized to individual
clients' needs, analyzing the results in a statistical summary.
Among his recent accomplishments include the creation of the Historical
ACCRA Cost of Living index, the redesign of the ACCRA Cost of
Living Index, C2ER, and CREC websites and the creation of the
ACCRA Cost of Living Index Web Calculator. Mr. Yildirim also designed
and implemented the ACCRA Cost of Living Index Price Collector
software - a web based application that allows the data collectors
to enter and submit their local data over the web and C2ER staff
to review over 100,000 data points in a timely manner. He also
developed e-commerce sites for both C2ER and COLI, and created
a national searchable database structure for the C2ER State Incentives
Database. In addition, Mr. Yildirim participates in other CREC
and C2ER consulting assignments and supports the C2ER training
and educational program.
Before joining C2ER in 2002, Erol Yildirim worked as a Business
Manager at Mason Enterprise Center, Mentor Protégé Program. He
supported a Department of Defense program and served as a vehicle
and catalyst for building long term business relationships between
major US Department of Defense contractors and small disadvantaged
businesses.
Erol Yildirim holds a M.A. in Economics from George Mason University.
His specialties are Public Finance and Monetary Economics. He
also holds a M.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Financial
Economics. Erol Yildirim has practical and educational experience
in information systems and web development. His programming skills
include Visual Basic, Oracle PL/SQL, SPSS, and ASP. He has completed
extensive class work toward a doctorate in economics. He serves
on the National Advisory Board of National Elder Economic Security
Initiative and advises the Bureau of Labor Statistics International
Committee. Mr. Yildirim is also fluent in Turkish.
Dean Frutiger
Dean Frutiger is the COLI Project Manager for the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness and its sister nonprofit, the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) – formerly known as ACCRA – a membership organization of economic development researchers. Mr. Frutiger is a labor relations/labor economics research specialist experienced in economic redevelopment work. At C2ER, his primary responsibility is coordinating and compiling the C2ER Cost of Living Index (COLI). The COLI is a quarterly data collection effort involving about 300 researchers from among C2ER's membership of chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, academic institutions, and regional planning councils. The project is in its 40th year.
Mr. Frutiger coordinates interaction with volunteer data providers from nearly 400 communities and responds to issues raised by subscribers. His primary focus in coordinating the COLI is aimed at improving the quality of data gathered, expanding the coverage of urban places participating. He will also help in developing new product spin-offs from the standard COLI product.
Before joining C2ER, Dean Frutiger was the Manager of Information and Research Services for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association in Arlington, Virginia. Prior to working at the ELFA, he was the Assistant Director of Research for the Amalgamated Transit Union in Washington, DC. He served on the Labor Research Advisory Council for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC working on the Occupational Safety and Health and Compensation and Working Conditions subcommittees.
Dean Frutiger holds a M.S. in Labor Relations from the University
of Massachusetts at Amherst. His areas of study were political
economy and research methodology. He also worked for the Political
Economy Research Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts conducting
economic redevelopment and wage analysis research. He worked on
the research staff for the joint Cornell University-UMass-Amherst
project "Impact of U.S.-China Trade Relations on Workers,
Wages, and Employment" submitted to the U.S.-China Security
Review Commission/U.S. Trade Deficit Review Committee. Mr. Frutiger
co-authored "Wages, Dignity, and Respect, The Impact of Unionization
on Low-Wage Women Workers" with Dr. Stephanie Luce, published
by the University of Massachusetts in 2001. He is also the author
of "AFL-CIO China Policy: Labor's New Step Forward or the
Cold War Revisited?" published in the Fall 2002 edition of
Labor Studies Journal. Mr. Frutiger has a Bachelor's degree in
American History from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.
Wen Sun
Wen Sun serves as Research Analyst for the Center for Regional
Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and its sister affiliate, the
Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). Her duties
include conducting research and analysis on a variety of programs,
including data analysis and review for C2ER's ACCRA Cost of Living
Index publication. She conducts data reviews, coordinates participant
participation, and calculating indices. She also assists in managing
and updating website content.
In recent assignments, she has gathered and organized industry
and occupational employment data. She also provides research,
writing, and web development support for the C2ER newsletter.
Prior to joining CREC and C2ER, she was a research assistant for
the Department of Economic and Workforce Development at the University
of Southern Mississippi.
Ms. Sun received a M.S. in Economic Development from the University
of Southern Mississippi and Bachelors of Science degree, majoring
in Real Estate Economics at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu,
China. She is fluent in Mandarin.
Brandon Curtis serves as a Research Analyst for the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). His duties include performing multiple research, data, and analysis tasks. Specifically, he collects, manages, and analyzes data for CREC’s consulting projects, contributes articles to the monthly C2ER newsletter, and updates the information in the C2ER State Incentives Database.
Before joining CREC and C2ER, he served as a research assistant for the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development at Illinois State University and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa.
Mr. Curtis has earned a M.S. in Applied Economics with a concentration in Community and Economic Development from Illinois State University and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Economics and Finance from Huntington University in Indiana.
Ronald Kelly serves as Program Analyst for the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). His duties include working with senior staff to develop and implement training programs for C2ER on the use and analysis of socioeconomic data, preparing and analyzing socioeconomic data, presentations, and reports for clients, as well as coordinating C2ER organizational advocacy efforts on behalf of regional economic development efforts.
Prior to joining CREC and C2ER, Mr. Kelly served as a Teaching and Research Specialist in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. He also has significant experience in community development finance: serving as a consultant to community development financial institutions seeking federal grant funding, as a community member involved in the founding of a low-income designated credit union in Upstate New York, as a Supervisory Committee member of Alternatives FCU, and as a Financial Analyst for ShoreBank where he served primarily as Fund Advisor to National Community Investment Fund.
Mr. Kelly holds an MRP in City and Regional Planning with a concentration
in Economic Development from Cornell University and a Bachelor
of Science degree in Business Management from Rochester Institute
of Technology.
Sean McNamara is chief operating officer for the Center for Regional
Economic Competitiveness. In 2000, Sean McNamara helped to form
the CREC as an independent non-profit affiliated with George Mason
University and the Council for Community and Economic Research
(C2ER – formerly known as ACCRA) that is focused on developing
a stronger understanding of how regional economies can compete
effectively in the knowledge-based economy. As part of those efforts,
Mr. McNamara oversees the day-to-day logistics of CREC and its
sister organization, C2ER – a national nonprofit membership organization
serving economic and community development researchers in communities,
states, academia, and the private sector. In this capacity of
Administrative Director, Mr. McNamara supervises the implementation
of all program development activities of the organization including:
Board relations, corporate finances, office management and technology
infrastructure and human resource aspects of the organization.
As COO of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, Mr.
McNamara supports the CEO in maintaining the strategic elements
of CREC with its partners and network, while also implementing
the administrative support functions for the organization. Mr.
McNamara helps in organizing conferences, coordinating interviews,
troubleshooting critical issues, and managing marketing and communications
for projects.
Before joining CREC and C2ER in 2000, Mr. McNamara served as the
CEO of McNamara Associates, a management consulting organization
where he provided research, facilitation, project coordination,
and management assistance to several state and local economic
development association clients including the American Association
of Enterprise Zones (AAEZ), The National Association of State
Development Agencies (NASDA), and the National Council of Urban
Economic Development (CUED, now IEDC). That effort included conducting
research, producing newsletters and technical assistance reports,
and data analysis, including the development of a national database
of incentives and the publication of case studies outlining the
successes of state enterprise zones and federal empowerment zones/enterprise
communities. Mr. McNamara's efforts also included maintaining
project schedules, organizing national conferences, and supporting
client organizations' efforts in data collection and dissemination.
Among the conferences he organized included the coordination with
then-Vice President Al Gore's office as a keynote speaker for
the 1996 AAEZ annual conference.
During his career, Mr. McNamara's efforts have focused on a wide variety of topics including state and local economic development management approaches, economic development program design and evaluation as well as federal programs to promote economic development, enterprise zones, and community development impact issues.
Before transitioning into economic development, Mr. McNamara
gained 15 years experience in residential and commercial design.
He served as senior project manager for Ryland Homes, a national
home construction firm, managing their home accessories design
stores, and held a number of positions with commercial/home design
and home furnishings firms.
Mr. McNamara earned both a Masters and baccalaureate in Fine Arts
from the Rhode Island School of Design.