Event Date: October 19-22, 2014

Location: Fort Worth Convention Center

Creating Jobs and Saving Farms with Ag-Tech

It's a familiar story: fast-growing community seeks jobs and tax base, builds residential and commercial infrastructure over formerly active, prime farmland. Becomes suburbanized in the short term but loses potential economic asset in the long run. In areas caught between an agricultural past and a suburban present, formulating a coherent development strategy amidst the frenzied pace of economic growth can be a challenge. This session will demonstrate how communities with an agricultural heritage can redefine their role in a regional economy and transform themselves from an aspirational "bedroom community" to a vibrant, diverse economic hub by stimulating the growth of agriculture and technology-based industries. 

What you will learn: 

• How to capitalize on regional and state assets across existing agriculture and technology clusters
• Strategies for integrating active farmland with mixed-use development within a traditional suburban community
• Tips for using ag-tech to support new workforce development, entrepreneurship, and agri-tourism initiatives that yield additional benefits for your community 

Speakers: 

• Sean Garretson, AICP, President, Pegasus Planning and Development
• Carlos Gutierrez, Chief Strategy Officer, Larta Institute, Los Angeles, CA
• Brenda Sherwood, Economic Development, City of Meridian, ID 

Big Data: Raising the Bar in Site Selection

Since the recession there has been an unprecedented convergence of inter-disciplinary research experts such as economists, geo-spatial experts, data scientists and sociologists who are coming together to understand shifting labor supply and demand and how labor trends impact communities. As a result, site selectors, economic developers and prospecting companies are designing innovative approaches that uncover hidden geographies of opportunity at the hyper-local level, from sub markets within urban areas to rural gems. In this session, industry experts and economic developers will dive into real-world examples and share how they are helping companies from multiple sectors identify the right community for their organization based on labor cost, availability and sustainability.

What you will learn: 

• How companies are using new and expanded data sources to influence site selection decisions
• Tips for improving the positioning of your community within the new site selection landscape
• Strategies for working with local partners to access important data requested in the site selection process 

Moderator:Amy Fobes, Principal and Founder, geoCommunica, Dallas, TX 

Speakers:

• Josh Bays, Principal, Site Selection Group, LLC, Dallas, TX
• Christine Chmura, PhD, President & Chief Economist, Chmura Economics & Analytics, Richmond, VA
• Wayne Gearey, PhD, Global Chief GIS Officer, Jones Lang LaSalle, Dallas, TX 

Conference Website: IEDC 2014 Annual Conference