Role and Responsibilities

Kenny has served as president and chief economic officer of One Columbus, formerly Columbus 2020, since the organization’s inception in 2010. He has helped lead the execution of the One Columbus strategy and development of the Columbus Region’s competitiveness agenda, and he has also built local and national partnerships that have accelerated the area’s development.

Kenny has over 20 years of regional economic development and management consulting experience focused on helping companies develop and execute their location strategies and helping communities achieve their goals. Kenny has worked with a variety of industries including automotive, biotechnology, aerospace, pharma and advanced electronics. He has consulted manufacturing and logistics operations and advised numerous headquarters, research and development, and technology facilities.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
CEO of the Year, Columbus CEO magazine, 2017
Executive Order of the Ohio Commodores, 2016
Top 50 Economic Developer, Consultant Connect, 2015

Role and Responsibilities

Jackie serves as Executive Assistant to the President and CEO, Kenny McDonald. In her role, Jackie provides a wide range of administrative support, including scheduling, planning and arranging travel. As a key member of the team, Jackie supports and advise staff, partners, stakeholders and community members on behalf of the CEO.

Role and Responsibilities

As senior vice president of economic development, Matt is focused on driving continuous improvement in the organization’s business development performance and aligning domestic, international, and existing industry outreach strategies. He engages with One Columbus’ network of national site consultants and conducts international business development missions.

Matt has spent 17 years working in economic development, with international experience in Japan, China, Korea, Italy and Germany. He also worked directly within the real estate industry.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Top 50 Economic Developer, Consultant Connect, 2016

Role and Responsibilities

As managing director of business development, Matt works to identify where growth is occurring, whether within an industry sector, particular type of operation or specific company. He is responsible for creating opportunities for the Columbus Region to compete for and win new jobs and investment by creating visibility for the market and putting together a business case that demonstrates the Columbus Region’s competitiveness.

Matt has worked in economic development for 10 years at the state and regional level in various roles, including sales, marketing and project management. He has managed projects in most industry sectors, but has seen the most activity in corporate office, mission critical facilities, and e-commerce. His greatest interest when making the case for the Columbus Region is working with One Columbus’ research team on labor analytics that show the market’s superior talent availability and cost.

Role and Responsibilities

As managing director of global trade and investment, Deb works to identify foreign-owned companies with interests to expand in the United States, and helps them evaluate the advantages of why the Columbus Region is a location of choice for a U.S. facility. She also helps Columbus Region-based companies connect with training and resources that will help them sales abroad.

Deb has particular expertise in working with companies that are based outside of North America, and has extensively worked with business leaders in Japan, China, UK, Germany, Italy and several other countries on new operations and expansions in the Columbus Region. Her previous private sector experience as an international sales manager included industrial sales and marketing responsibilities in five continents, territory development, and mergers and acquisitions. She is a fluent Spanish speaker.

Role and Responsibilities

Justin leads the activities of the project management team the active pipeline of One Columbus expansion projects, placing an emphasis on the strategic qualification of growth opportunities.

He consults clients through the site location process to help them take advantage of the Columbus Region’s business advantages, and works with the project management team to provide best-in-class client service including real estate assistance, market validation and analysis, public and private partner connections, and state and local incentive negotiations.

Justin has economic development employment experience in the public sector, private non-profit organizations and private sector companies. His site selection experience has included projects in the U.S. and Mexico, sector-specific corporate real estate for global logistics operations, and a diverse set of clients ranging across the Columbus Region’s economic base industries.

Role and Responsibilities

As project manager, Logan works directly with companies and advisory teams considering job creation opportunities in the Columbus Region, and businesses with existing operations in the market. Dawson assists clients through a multitude of strategic projects involving capital expenditure placement, job creation opportunities, real estate transactions, new customer acquisitions, supply chain optimization, and other critical decisions.

In this capacity, he is responsible for developing key project metrics, responding to detailed market and data requests, coordinating with public and private partners, organizing market visits, and leveraging state and local incentive programs.

Role and Responsibilities

Tom works directly with companies evaluating the Columbus Region for job creation and investment opportunities, including attraction and retention of domestic and international projects spanning all industry sectors. He is responsible for customized proposals, has coordinated dozens of market and site tours, helped manage over a hundred project opportunities for the Columbus Region and created a streamlined source of communication between companies and growth resources.

Tom is also responsible for managing the Columbus Region property database and all site selection based leads and projects.

Role and Responsibilities

Jay works as part of the project management team to handle research inquiries and assist in the completion of RFIs and client proposals. Jay collects, manages and analyzes data in support of economic development initiatives and is responsible for conducting business research, managing geographic data collection efforts and providing timely and accurate research support services to the One Columbus team and its regional partners.

Jay has particular expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and is an integral part of the team that manages map production for One Columbus.

Role and Responsibilities

As Economic Development Data Analyst, Shelly works cross-functionally to assure data governance and best-practices are in place and followed, data is collected and updated, and end-users are able to access, visualize, and utilize as needed.

She helps One Columbus use data and analytics to continually improve, adapt, and change for the benefit of all internal and external stakeholders and partners.

Role and Responsibilities

In his role as Director, Workforce and Talent Solutions, David White serves as a talent and workforce expert in the development of proposals for companies seeking to expand existing operations or to introduce new operations to a community in the Columbus Region.

He also consults with regional companies and their talent needs, facilitating connections and dialogue among various private, public, state and nonprofit resources.

Role and Responsibilities

Chip works to raise funds from the business community to finance One Columbus’ comprehensive economic and business development activities. Financial resources are provided by more than 300 Columbus Region businesses and organizations that represent more than 20 industry sectors. Chip actively works to help connect One Columbus investors with each other and to One Columbus clients.

With more than 20 years of successful economic development consulting and fundraising experience throughout the U.S., Chip’s deep experience helps One Columbus investors and stakeholders truly maximize their engagement opportunities and return on investment.

Role and Responsibilities

As director of marketing and communications, Amy leads the strategy development, management and execution of One Columbus marketing programs, including management of collateral development, digital marketing and public relations efforts.

These programs enhance the ability of the One Columbus team to generate opportunities to serve growing companies and promote the Columbus Region’s position as a leading location for business investment.

Role and Responsibilities

As chief administrative officer of One Columbus, Sean provides executive oversight for accounting and budget, human resources, insurance and real estate, information technology and investor relations operations.

Sean re-crafted the finance and accounting function within One Columbus to provide greater transparency and insight into the financial operations of the organization. The continued enhancements of this function have allowed the organization to share its accounting expertise and services with other non-profit organizations.

Sean’s background in finance and operations management and experience in helping to build a start-up to expansion and eventual sale contribute to his financial and organizational expertise. His experience with organizational transition while maintaining fiscal health makes him aptly suited for meeting challenges faced by business entities of all kind.

Role and Responsibilities

Tara is responsible for various accounting duties including the preparation of financial statements, accounts payable and accounts receivable. Tara is a Certified Public Accountant.Prior to her time at One Columbus, Tara was a Senior Accountant at John Gerlach & Co. LLC.

She has her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Finance from Ohio Northern University.

Role and Responsibilities

Jennifer is responsible for various accounting duties including the preparation of financial statements, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Role and Responsibilities

Haley coordinates and executes meetings and events and provides administrative support to Patty Huddle, Senior Vice President of Economic Development. Haley manages logistics for meetings involving One Columbus investors, board members, and community stakeholders. She also organizes and executes Economic Development 411 (ED411), a half-day program which attracts nearly 500+ attendees each year.

Additionally, Haley provides administrative support to the Mid-Ohio Development Exchange (MODE) which brings together more than 40 local economic development organizations within the Region for networking, programming and professional development. Haley serves as the MODE board secretary where she organizes meetings, communicates with members regularly, and serves as a main point of contact.

Role and Responsibilities

Jung leads the research team in gathering and analyzing information to support the Columbus Region’s economic success. This includes studies of Columbus Region industries, supply chains and workforce, as well as work that supports marketing, lead generation, RFI responses, client requests related to location decisions, and inquiries from media, local governments and other organizations.

Jung has deep content knowledge of standard and non-traditional economic, business and demographic data and information sources, combined with rigorous analytical and communication skills that help One Columbus present findings to team members, clients, community stakeholders and partners.

Role and Responsibilities

As Research Analyst, Juliet collects and analyzes data in support of economic development and is responsible for providing economic analysis, conducting business research, and assisting the research team in data collection.

She specializes in business development by identifying and monitoring companies that may enter or expand in the Columbus Region.