Jay Garner is the president and founder of Garner Economics, LLC, an economic development and site location consulting practice headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. Jay is a leader and innovator in the economic development profession, having served for more than 40 years as both an award-winning economic development, Chamber of Commerce CEO, and site location professional. His firm assists clients throughout the world on a wide variety of projects, offering innovative, yet real-world solutions to achieve success. Jay often lectures and provides counsel on creating and implementing proactive global business development strategies and tactics. His firm is also a leader in providing assistance to corporate clients in their site selection process, such as Anchor Glass, Academy Sports, Hatfield Quality Meats, Hill’s Pet Foods, Marel Food Systems, EGR Automotive, Future Pipe Industries, The L.S. Starrett Company, and others. He is a founding member and past chair of the board for the Site Selectors Guild, Inc., a prestigious group of the top site location consultants, globally. Jay is also a past chairman for the International Economic Development Council, the largest economic development professional trade organization in the world. He is a co-author of the Amazon bestseller Economic Development Is [STILL] Not For Amateurs!, (2nd edition) a must-read book for community leaders on how to achieve economic development success.

Elected to this position by the board of directors.