More than 45 years experience in place making, local economic development and local food systems with a rich and broad array of experience around North America.From ten years in the trenches as a tavern keeper thru twenty years of place making in the second tier industrial cities of the Midwest (Rock Island and Fort Wayne) to operating the largest public market in the city typically selected as the poster child for the post carbon era (Detroit).Current passions include merging place-based and sectoral-based economic development to foster the regeneration of one of Detroit's most venerated places to inspire new templates and narratives to re-purpose vacant urban land and resurrect regional food systems.I have spent my working life seeking clues to regenerate economies left behind by globalization in developed countries be they small towns or urban centers. Spreading wealth more broadly- geographically and demographically -is the most important goal of local economic development today. Specialties include: Local economic strategic planning, tactical place making, nurturing regional food systems, community-based development, pioneering new real estate markets, arts & entertainment district development, entrepreneurial non-profit management.