Paige Webster started his firm in 2013. Paige has worked with many projects across many industry sectors including: aerospace, bio tech, geo-thermal, wind & solar, warehouse/distribution, office projects, data centers, corporate centers and the retail sector. Paige has been working in site selection and economic development for twenty years.

Paige has had extensive site selection experience as he was the Western Regional Real Estate Manager for Aaron Rents. Paige was able to facilitate and expand the major retail expansion for Aaron Rents in the Western United States.

Paige has had experience in the Economic Development arena too. He was the former Economic Development Director for the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation. Paige’s experience includes working with back office, warehouse distribution, bio-tech, software development companies and food processing companies for the Yuma area.

Paige did extensive work in cross border economic development and was a member of the Border Trade Alliance (BTA) and worked closely with the Arizona Governor’s Office on cross border issues in Mexico. Paige was on the Workforce Development Board and was also a Board Member of the Arizona Association of Economic Development (AAED). Paige has also received the CEcD designation during his career in Economic Development.

Paige also worked for the Arizona Department of Commerce as the Northern Arizona Representative, assisting companies to expand or relocate to the State of Arizona with projects related to injection molding, warehouse/distribution, back office, agro-business, bio-tech, high tech, aviation.

Paige has received his BS in Regional Development from University of Arizona and has also received his MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix. Paige resides in Phoenix, AZ and loves to fly fish, play golf, hunt and scuba dive.

David Gaines, Managing Director, leads the day-to-day operations of the firm’s consulting business and the firm’s commercial and industrial real estate division, Goldstone Realty Partners.

Goldstone Consulting Group provides site selection service to companies that are expanding and searching for new locations to establish operations. Goldstone Consulting Group also provides economic development consulting services to communities.

Prior to founding Goldstone Consulting Group in 2016, Mr. Gaines held leadership roles in two
local and regional economic development agencies dating back to 2007. During that time, he was responsible for the business attraction efforts for the communities he represented as well business retention and expansion programs for those communities.

David is a founding member of the Northeast Missouri Development Partnership, a 14-county regional economic development agency. He also served as the group’s first two-term Chairman of the Board of Directors and currently serves as a member of its Government Relations Committee.

He holds a degree in Business Administration from the Ashford University – Forbes School of
Business and a Chancellor’s Certificate in International Trade from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is also a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute.

During his 30-years of business experience, David has held positions from sales and marketing to management and ownership. He has worked in the economic development, financial services, print and broadcast media, real estate and business services industries.

David has authored numerous articles for national publications on matters relating to economic development and business and is a former financial talk show host for a major market radio station. In addition, he has also been a panelist and a moderator many times on topics concerning economic development.

Abbey Titzer is the Manager of Client Services within the Site Selection & Incentives practice at Sikich LLP. While studying site selection and incentives best practices, she also promotes communication and support with potential and new clients, building and maintaining networks for a healthy ecosystem. Event and sponsorships, social media and article creation are all important parts of her work. She also manages the company Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and state project management systems.

Before joining Sikich, Abbey was the investment coordinator at a private wealth management firm in Indianapolis. She has extensive experience working in business development, systems management, compliance processes and improvement. She naturally fits well working with growing companies and is quickly becoming a go-to person in the start-up industry.

Abbey studied political science and mathematics while playing basketball at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. Following graduation, she moved back to Indianapolis to start her professional career. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling and participating in outdoor activities such as running, biking and hiking.

AFFILIATIONS

gBETA Gener8tor Tech Accelerator, Mentor

ICAN (Indiana Canine Assistance Network), Supporter

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Mathematics, Saint Joseph’s College

Basic Economic Development Course, International Economic Development Council

Greg Elam, CEO, SUSA Intl, Nashville, TN USA Greg was the former founder of STEP Resources, an energy management company, which he sold to Lykins Energy in late 2015 after growing it from a start-up to managing more than $200 million in energy spend for customers on an annual basis.

He is also an Affiliated Consultant to KMK Consulting Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of KMK Law firm. He has more than 30 years of experience as an executive and trusted consultant in the utility/energy sector, including site selection, utility operations, large deal structuring, strategic planning, contract negotiations, and utility infrastructure and project management on large development projects. Greg is goal-oriented, driven and a natural leader.

He has personally executed more than $2 billion in energy-related transactions and has or is currently working on greenhouse developments that are in excess of $700 million dollars. He has developed and implemented effective strategies for a variety of companies, including several Fortune 100 companies, which resulted in millions of dollars in savings to his clients.

His firm was retained by the US Bankruptcy Court to represent the trustee in the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy, where he led a led a team of professionals whose work resulted in uncovering and implementing millions of dollars in energy transactions, which provided savings for the benefit of the trustee. In addition to Greg’s management and leadership capabilities, he has developed deep expertise in two core areas; site selection and real estate [re] development.

Greg has worked on some of the largest projects in the United States, including assisting in the site selection process locating in excess of $1 billon in real estate assets. These include large scale greenhouses, commercial and industrial developments and redevelopments. He led the infrastructure strategies on re-developing more than 10 million square feet of Boeing’s real-estate in Seattle, WA. He also led the infrastructure efforts for the Somerville Business Park, a former US Army base located in Somerville, NJ. Combined with his enthusiasm for proactively delivering high quality service to clients, and his method of approaching challenges and opportunities with a blend of strategic vision grounded in tactical reality, Greg generates both loyalty and respect from appreciative clients and supportive colleagues.

Of special note, Greg … Led the efforts in developing the exit strategy plan(s) for all utility infrastructure for more than 10 million square feet of Boeing’s real estate at its five major campuses in Washington State. Led the strategic development and utility negotiations for several major developments including Sprint’s World Headquarters in Overland Park, KS, Philadelphia Naval Yard, and the IRS and US Post Office development in Kansas City, MO. Led the effort to bring two international companies to Ohio to develop their greenhouse-grow operations, which when completed will represent more than $400 million in direct investment. Led the effort with respect to utilities and infrastructure to assist JobsOhio in bringing Fuyao Glass, The world’s largest automotive glass facility, to Moraine, Ohio Worked and developed a transaction for a South African company to locate in the US, creating more than $500 million in direct investment. Greg led each of the above projects by developing creative business, technical and/or regulatory solutions for clients - when others said it could not be done.

Today, he co-owns and co-manages Agra Greenhouse Group, developing greenhouse projects and selling equipment and services to large scale greenhouse operations. His work includes interacting with a variety of disciplines, including ownership groups, legal, real-estate, executives, construction contractors and governmental entities.

Greg recently served on the board of the European American Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Japan America Society of Greater Cincinnati. He is a past board president of The One-Way Farm children’s home.

Greg attended Miami University and was accepted to the Farmer School of Business. Greg chose early on to focus on the wholesale and retail energy/utility sectors, which he predicted would experience explosive growth, and becoming an expert in the energy/utility sector, which he is recognized.

Greg lives at home with his wife Trish and son Dillon. He and his family are strong supporters of the Dragonfly Foundation, which he is a board member.

Jamie Newell,

With nearly 20 years of experience across all facets of real estate development, Jamie leads projects through every stage of the development process. She began her career representing engineering firms in the construction industry with project procurement during the due diligence
phases prior to joining a boutique site selection firm where she began assisting industrial users with site selection and incentive negotiation consulting services. These services encompass a multitude of problem-solving capabilities such as sourcing investors, siting specific brownfield locations and greenfield sites, identifying federal grant and other incentive opportunities, sourcing contractors, architects, engineers and other consultants, and ultimately closing the deal.

Focusing on strategic growth for her clients, Jamie evaluates supply chain and logistics networks and examines other variables, project drivers, and risk mitigation factors that impact project costs and operational management. Her clients include domestic and global companies primarily within the advanced manufacturing, automotive (electric vehicle) and consumer goods sectors,
and she is currently fostering relationships with companies focused on sustainability efforts.

Jamie attended Longwood University, B.S. Business Administration & Concentration in Management.

Some of Jamie's Strategic Partners Include: Toyo Inc., LioChem e-Materials, Toyota Tsusho America, Inc.,  Industrial Tech Services (of Japan), Appian Investments, Slumber Shield Inc., Precision Textiles Inc., Blue Pack Marketing, Forge Investment Group, Whitaker Park Development Authority, Town of Troy, Scotland County Economic Development, Brennan Investments, Equus Capital, Nature’s Value – Nutra Pharma, Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway, Jordan Lumber and Supply Company, Confidential Advanced Manufacturing Client Confidential Automotive Supplier Client, Confidential Food and Beverage Client, Confidential Recycling Client.

In her spare time, she enjoys beekeeping, bird hunting with her dog, “Pax", paddle boarding, and volunteering in her community and with her church. Raised by a distinguished Army Veteran, Jamie proudly supports our nations heroes through her involvement in the All Secure Foundation and Shields and Stripes organizations.

Cynthia Stewart Cindy brings over 30 years of experience in community engagement and retail real estate advocacy as senior community development and public policy executive with a commitment to public-private partnerships and corporate social responsibility.

Cindy specializes in building bridges between the public and private sectors to create opportunities and navigate the government regulatory process ensuring connections, communication, and collaborations leading to successful retail development.

Cindy is an independent contractor working with clients in North America. She provides Senior Public Policy & Community Development services to Goman York Property Advisors and Community Engagement and Outreach services to Retail Strategies including a collaboration with Retail Strategies to develop an online course “Retail as a Catalyst for Economic Development” which is being offered to local governments in partnership with the National League of Cities University (NLCU).

She previously was employed by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) as Vice President, Community Development, prior to that she held positions of Manager of State Government Relations and Director of Community Relations. Her career with ICSC spanned 21 years, while there she led a team that created programs and initiatives focused on emerging issues, real estate challenges, and overcoming obstacles to retail development. She facilitated task forces and initiatives comprised of diverse national, state, and local volunteer groups representing business, development, elected officials, and economic development professionals. These efforts led to the publication of research, reports, best practices and recommendations and guides for attracting and retaining business. Before her career at ICSC, she worked in state and local government as a state senate chief of staff and city clerk.

SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS

 Cindy is a frequent speaker at conferences and events - including the International Downtown Association, National League of Cities, International Economic Development Council, National Association of Counties, Alberta Economic Developers, Economic Developers Council of Ontario and additional state-level organizations and associations.

 Presented a webinar for the Downtown Development District of New Orleans "Downtown Retail-Marketing & Other Steps to Drive Business During the Recovery Phases of COVID-19”.

 Presenter & Panelist for District of Columbia Business & Industry Association (DCBIA) webinar – "Mitigating Risk in Retail".

 Served as Project Facilitator for the Massachusetts Local Rapid Recovery Plan providing consulting and technical assistance to two of the 124 participating communities. The program approach utilized data analysis, a local business survey, community assessments, community meetings, collaboration, and the strength of knowledge from municipal officials, local businesses, the community, and the Planned Facilitators to develop actionable and realistic projects to support communities in the short-term to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic with an objective to build stronger, more vibrant communities in the long-term.

 Cindy is the co-author of Development in Underserved Retail Markets, published by the International Council of Shopping Centers. She currently serves on the Steering Committee for Chicago TREND (a social enterprise focused on neighborhood transforming catalytic retail development).

Member

International Downtown Association (IDA), International Economic Development Council (IEDC), and International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

EDUCATION

BAAS in Public Administration from Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX; 2019 graduate of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Corporate Social Responsibility; ICSC University of Shopping Centers School of Economic Development; ICSC School for Professional Development – Shopping Center Management Strategic Management & Performance Measurement – management concepts training

PERSONAL

Cindy resides in Greer, South Carolina but at heart is a travel maven. With a passion for photography and cooking, she also loves to end a day with a nice glass of prosecco while spending time with family and friends.