The summer activity for the NEI Business Development (BD) team has been heating up. Now at full capacity, the BD team has been out on the road quite a bit, but when they’re not, they’ve had the pleasure of showcasing our region.
Recently, the BD team hosted Devin Hillsdon-Smith, Director of Integrated Site Selection for Cushman & Wakefield. We took him on a tour of the new downtown development in Fort Wayne, including The Pearl and Pearl Arts building, and the Electric Works campus, which Hillsdon-Smith was instrumental in helping revitalize during his time with the IEDC.
Additionally, Hillsdon-Smith was kind enough to be a guest on the NEI Pioneer Podcast to share his experience as an economic developer turned site selector. Then, he reciprocated by having NEI on his show, Site Selectors Are People Too. Both podcasts are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
In June, the BD staff attended the Area Development Consultants Forum, Orthopedic Manufacturing and Technology Expo, the Indiana Power Partnership Event and SelectUSA where they continued building relationships with site consultants and medical device and technology firms.
In particular, the BD team had a very successful SelectUSA 2024.
The 2024 SelectUSA Conference yielded a significant number of opportunities for Northeast Indiana. This year was the largest Investment Summit to date with record levels of attendance and engagement from 5,000+ attendees, 96 international markets, and all 56 U.S. states and territories.
The event was attended by more than 1,000 economic development organization representatives, 2,500+ international delegates, 700+ SelectUSA Tech participants, 97 Select Global Women in Tech (SGWIT) mentors, and 115 SGWIT mentees from 43 markets.
Stéphane Frijia and Jackson Long attended for NEI and generated over 20 new projects from the event. These include projects from the Netherlands, Japan and Turkey, highlighting the global interest in Northeast Indiana.
Looking ahead to the rest of Q3, our calendar is stocked with activity on the road. Each event has been carefully selected to align with our commitment to facilitating global and domestic growth opportunities, showcasing our role as pivotal facilitators in the business development ecosystem, including:
RoadShow #3 in Dallas, TX (Aug. 21-22): Continuing our engagement with site consultants, focusing on the dynamic business environment of the Southwestern U.S.
IVT Off-Highway Vehicles Conference in Chicago (Aug. 21-22): An opportunity to explore the latest developments in the off-highway vehicle design and engineering community.
TBIC Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA – (Aug. 27): This event will enable us to deepen our understanding and network within the site consultant community.
MEDevice in Boston, MA (Sept. 25-26): Closing our Q3 activities with an exclusive expo dedicated to advancing medical device innovation.
If you or your companies are attending any of these conferences, please reach out to the BD team so we can align our outreach, marketing and networking efforts.
