Helping to lead the business expansion and business recruitment efforts for Catawba County EDC.

Continue to serve as lead liaison to industrial businesses within Catawba County, building relationships with key company personnel to assist in their growth or overcoming significant barriers. Initiatives of note:- Managed and coordinated business expansion and recruitment projects totaling more than 2200 new jobs and $425M of investment.- Established and spearhead the EDC's talent retention/attraction efforts, including a new take on the traditional job fair (Talent Jam: HKY Metro), a series of educational workshops geared towards the local HR community (Tapping into Talent), to an effort to recruit Puerto Ricans impacted by Hurricane Maria, matching them to high-paying opportunities in the Hickory Metro (Project Puente). - Co-created and co-lead an award-winning effort to assist transitioning veterans and military families (www.HKY4Vets.com). HKY4VETS (Hickory4Vets) is a public-private partnership of companies, government agencies, nonprofits and veterans, working to build a sustainable model for our community and become one of the most "veteran-ready" communities in the entire country.- Created and lead the EDC's research and analysis of potential target markets and companies for proactive industry recruitment.

Since its inception in 2016, HKY4VETS (Hickory4Vets), a public-private partnership of companies, government agencies, nonprofits and veterans, has worked to build a sustainable model for the Catawba County (NC) community and establish a plan of work based on three overarching priorities: Awareness, Advocacy, and Access. - Awareness: Creating opportunities to educate local employers on the value of this talented population, as well as the cultural differences between the military and civilian sector to aid their recruitment and retention efforts.- Advocacy: Build a community that is inclusive and “ready” to assist this under-resourced population.- Access: Serve as the bridge to connect local employers with transitioning military talent, as well as, transition support/veteran support organizations, to fill their vacant positions.Please see the report below to better understand our work over the past year, as well as how we plan to expand upon this valuable work in the coming year.

With over 800 locations nationwide, Sign Gypsies is the largest and fastest growing yard greeting company in the U.S. Sign Gypsies Hickory, a franchise serving parts of Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties (NC), prides itself on delivering customizable experiences through high-quality products and unbeatable customer service. Sign Gypsies Hickory yard greeting rentals are perfect for homes, schools, and businesses.- Managed the daily operations for this "sidehustle", including all customer interaction, financials/billing, staffing (hiring/onboarding), scheduling, and social media/email marketing.Accomplishments include:- Crafted a strong, local brand and social media following, growing the Sign Gypsies Hickory's social media following by more than 400% and achieving 100% positive customer reviews over more than 2 years.- Expanded usable assets of the business by more than 10x in 2 years, while achieving profitability in less than 1 year.- Built customer base from zero to more than 1,000, with significant repeat customer base (>25% sales growth/year).- Managed the sale and transfer of the business in less than 45 days, achieving ROI 8x original investment.

Managed daily operations, strategic direction and reporting for the organization’s efforts to build brand and solutions awareness among manufacturers in all 100 North Carolina counties. Initiatives of note:- Led a restructure of several existing programs and a complete redevelopment of the Manufacturing Makes It Real Network (MMIRN), including new budget, plan of work, financial model, organizational processes, marketing materials/website, payment system, product offerings, partner opportunities, board creation, & reporting.- Developed and managed new sales channels like regional Lean Improvement Councils and mfgCON, a statewide conference geared exclusively to manufacturers.

Serve as lead liaison to industrial businesses within Catawba County, building relationships with key company personnel to assist in their growth or overcoming significant barriers. Develop and fully manage the implementation of the organization’s work plan for business retention and expansion, ensuring the program is consistently evolving to meet changing needs. Respond by leading or assisting with new or improved initiatives developed in conjunction with state and local partners. Initiatives of note:- Created, funded and led partner organizations (4 counties; NC State IES) to develop Manufactured in North Carolina (www.ManufacturedNC.com), a free online, statewide directory intended to market and grow North Carolina’s manufacturing supply chain.- Assist local industry in their application of local, state or federal grant opportunities, attaining more than $2 million in funding to date.- Coordinated and authored the renewal documentation on behalf of 4 counties and numerous private landowners for the Greater Hickory Metro Foreign Trade Zone (#57) to the International Trade Administration.