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Here is our speaking and training schedule for 2024. New events will be added as they are confirmed.

Tennessee Basic Course

Laith Wardi is back in The Volunteer State on Monday, May 6th for a keynote presentation and abbreviated BR&E session for the University of Tennessee. This will be held in Nashville. For more information, visit www.cis.tennessee.edu.

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins are scheduled to provide instruction for Ohio's Economic Development Association (OEDA). The state certification training for business retention and expansion will be held on May 9th and 10th in Dublin, Ohio. This training curriculum is designed specifically for Ohio practitioners and features excellent content, panel discussions and statewide perspectives from JobsOhio. For more information on the session, go to OEDA's website.

Speaking of JobsOhio…ExecutivePulse continues to be the only third-party vendor that offers dynamic data exchange with their main, statewide CRM. Bottom line…our local and regional clients across the Buckeye State can seamlessly sync data with the folks in Columbus -- even though they are using different technology. We continue to add new Ohio clients regularly and are thankful to be involved with economic development initiatives across the state.

OUEDI BR&E Online Spring/Summer 2024 Session

Laith Wardi will conduct another 8-week business retention and expansion course for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute. The course begins on May 13th and runs through July 8th. If you are interested in an immersive BRE educational experience, this program is for you! For more information, visit https://pacs.ou.edu.

Auburn University Session

Laith Wardi will travel to Auburn Alabama to conduct a two-hour BRE session on July 9th as part of the weeklong Intensive Economic Development Training Course for Auburn University. A special thanks to David Mixon and his entire team for keeping us involved with this great program every year! For more information, go to www.auburn.edu.

IEDC Virtual BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins are slated to do a virtual business retention and expansion course on July 11th and 12th. This year, they'll be bringing in guest speakers to tackle social media and artificial intelligence for BRE. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

OUEDI BR&E Online Fall/Winter 2024 Session

Laith Wardi will conduct another 8-week business retention and expansion course for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute. The course begins on November 11th and runs through January 6th, 2025. If you are interested in an immersive BRE educational experience, this program is for you! For more information, visit https://pacs.ou.edu.

IEDC Virtual BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins are slated to do a virtual business retention and expansion course on November 14th and 15th. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Tennessee BR&E Course

Laith Wardi will conduct a 1.5-day business retention and expansion training course for the University of Tennessee. This session will be held on November 19th and 20th. For more information, visit www.cis.tennessee.edu. A special shout out to Kim Denton and her team for, once again, including us in the training mix!

Pennsylvania Basic Economic Development Course

Laith Wardi goes back to where it all began at Pennsylvania's Basic Economic Development Course. He'll do a two-hour webinar session on best practices business retention and expansion on December 18th. A special thanks to Carol Kilko for getting us involved with this training program again. For more information, go to www.peda.org.

On a related note, Carol Kilko got us involved with Pennsylvania as a primary economic development technology vendor in 1996. Fast forward to 2024…the ExecutivePulse CRM is now used by roughly 1,300 economic development and allied professionals across the 10 marketing regions and 67 counties in Pennsylvania for the mainstay PREP and Engage initiatives as well as work with the Office of International Business Development—domestically and abroad. In latter 2022, we were selected as the new CRM vendor for the Commonwealth's statewide Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) program.

Here is what we know for sure about speaking and training in 2023. This schedule can change with new engagements.

IEDC BR&E Session - Baltimore, MD

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins will tag team an in-person Business Retention and Expansion Course for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on March 9th and 10th in Baltimore, MD. For more information on this and other professional certification courses, go to www.iedconline.org

Tennessee BR&E Course

Also in March, Laith Wardi will conduct a 1.5-day business retention and expansion training course for the University of Tennessee. This session will be held in Jackson on March 28th and 29th. For more information, visit www.cis.tennessee.edu. A special shout out to Kim Denton and her team for, once again, including us in the training mix!

Tennessee Basic Course

We're back in The Volunteer State on Monday, May 8th for a keynote and abbreviated BR&E session for the University of Tennessee. This will be held in Nashville. For more information, visit www.cis.tennessee.edu.

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins are scheduled to provide instruction for Ohio's Economic Development Association (OEDA). The state certification training for business retention and expansion will be held on May 25th and 26th in Dublin, Ohio. This training curriculum is designed specifically for Ohio practitioners and features excellent content, panel discussions and statewide perspectives from JobsOhio. For more information on the session, go to OEDA's website.

Speaking of JobsOhio…ExecutivePulse continues to be the only third-party vendor that offers dynamic data exchange with their main, statewide CRM. Bottom line…our local and regional clients across the Buckeye State can seamlessly sync data with the folks in Columbus -- even though they are using different technology. It seems like every month, we adding new Ohio clients and are thankful to be involved with economic development initiatives across the state.

OUEDI BR&E Online Spring/Summer 2023 Session

Laith Wardi will conduct another 8-week business retention and expansion course for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute. The course begins on May 15th and runs through July 10th. If you are interested in an immersive BRE educational experience, this program is for you! For more information, visit https://pacs.ou.edu.

Auburn University Session

Laith Wardi will travel to Auburn Alabama to conduct a two-hour BRE session on July 11th as part of the weeklong Intensive Economic Development Training Course for Auburn University. A special thanks to David Mixon and his entire team for keeping us involved with this great program every year! For more information, go to www.auburn.edu

IEDC Virtual BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, Dale Wheeldon, and Colleen Bond are slated to do a virtual business retention and expansion course on July 24th and 25th. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Tennessee Resiliency Course

Laith Wardi, CEcD, is back in The Volunteer State for a third time this year to moderate a two day Resiliency Course in Franklin on August 23rd and 24th. For more information, visit www.cis.tennessee.edu.

Auburn University Virtual Session

Laith Wardi will conduct a virtual BR&E session for Auburn University on October 11th. For more information, go to www.auburn.edu

OUEDI BR&E Online Fall/Winter 2023 Session

Laith Wardi will conduct another 8-week business retention and expansion course for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute. The course begins on November 13th and runs through January 8th, 2024. If you are interested in an immersive BRE educational experience, this program is for you! For more information, visit https://pacs.ou.edu.

IEDC Virtual BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins are slated to do a virtual business retention and expansion course on December 7th and 8th. We'll tap Colleen Bond and Dale Wheeldon for resiliency insights during the session. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Pennsylvania Basic Economic Development Course

Laith Wardi goes back to where it all began at Pennsylvania's Basic Economic Development Course. He'll do a two-hour webinar session on best practices business retention and expansion on December 13th. A special thanks to Carol Kilko for getting us involved with this training program again.

On a related note, Carol Kilko got us involved with Pennsylvania as a primary economic development technology vendor in 1996. Fast forward to 2023…the ExecutivePulse CRM is now used by roughly 1,300 economic development and allied professionals across the 10 marketing regions and 67 counties in Pennsylvania for the mainstay PREP and Engage initiatives as well as work with the Office of International Business Development—domestically and abroad. In latter 2022, we were selected as the new CRM vendor for the Commonwealth's statewide Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) program.

2022 is shaping up to a transition year from webinar speaking & training to live, in-person sessions. Here is our confirmed schedule for 2022.

IEDC Online BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins will anchor a virtual Business Retention and Expansion Course for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on January 10th and 11th. They will be joined by Colleen Bond, Dale Wheeldon, and other guest speakers during this two-day certification training session. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org

OUEDI Resiliency Session

Laith Wardi will participate in the OUEDI Spring Conference in Pittsburgh on April 5 with a two-hour session on disaster resiliency. This Zoom session will focus on BRE aspects of disaster preparedness and recovery. For more information, visit https://pacs.ou.edu

BCEDA CRM/Data Webinar Session

Laith Wardi will conduct a one-hour webinar, Data Makes the Difference, for the British Columbia Economic Development Association on April 12th. This session will highlight customized functionality and unique uses of data by select ExecutivePulse CRM clients across North America. The session will feature state and provincial as well as metro and local use cases. For more information, visit www.bceda.ca

Tennessee Sessions

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will travel to Nashville in early May to conduct two sessions for the University of Tennessee's Basic Economic Development Course. He'll kick off the week with a keynote on economic development trends session and follow up with two hours on business retention and expansion. For more information, go to www.cis.tennessee.edu. Special thanks to Kim Denton and her entire team for including us in these and other course offerings every year! UT consistently provides some of the best economic development training in the country.

OUEDI BR&E Online Session

Laith Wardi will conduct another 8-week business retention and expansion course for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute. The course begins on May 16th and runs through July 11th. If you are interested in an immersive BRE educational experience, this program is for you! For more information, visit https://pacs.ou.edu.

IEDC Live BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins will tag team a two-day Business Retention and Expansion Course for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on June 9th and 10th in Richardson, Texas. They will be joined by Colleen Bond, Dale Wheeldon, and other guest speakers during this two-day certification training session. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Auburn University Session

Laith Wardi will travel to Auburn Alabama to conduct a two-hour BRE session on July 12th as part of the weeklong Intensive Economic Development Training Course for Auburn University. A special thanks to David Mixon and his entire team for keeping us involved with this great program every year! For more information, go to www.auburn.edu.

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins will provide instruction for Ohio's Economic Development Association (OEDA). The state certification training for business retention and expansion will be held on September 15th and 16th in Dublin, Ohio. This training curriculum is designed specifically for Ohio practitioners and features excellent content, panel discussions and statewide perspectives from JobsOhio. For more information on the session, go to OEDA's website.

Speaking of JobsOhio…ExecutivePulse continues to be the only third-party vendor that offers dynamic data exchange with their main, statewide CRM. Bottom line…our local and regional clients across the Buckeye State can seamlessly sync data with the folks in Columbus -- even though they are using different technology.

IEDC Virtual BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins are slated to do a virtual business retention and expansion course on September 29th and 30th. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Pennsylvania Basic Economic Development Course

Laith Wardi goes back to where it all began at Pennsylvania's Basic Economic Development Course. He'll do a two-hour webinar session on best practices business retention and expansion on December 14th. A special thanks to Carol Kilko for getting us involved with this training program again.

On a related note, Carol Kilko got us involved with Pennsylvania as a primary economic development technology vendor in 1996. Fast forward to 2022…the ExecutivePulse 2022 CRM is now used by roughly 1,300 economic development and allied professionals across the 10 marketing regions and 67 counties in Pennsylvania for the mainstay PREP and Engage initiatives as well as work with the Office of International Business Development—domestically and abroad.

Looking into the 2021 crystal ball…it looks like training and related travel will begin to normalize for us by the 3rd quarter. Here's the current virtual and in-person calendar for 2021.

IEDC Online Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins will anchor a virtual Business Retention and Expansion Course for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on January 28th and 29th. They will be joined by Colleen Bond, Dale Wheeldon and other guest speakers during this two-day certification training session. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

IEDC Sustainability Webinar

Laith Wardi will join Marty Vanags for the IEDC Webinar, Riding the Green Wave, on Thursday, April 15th from 2-4pm. The webinar will focus on the green economy and how economic development and allied professionals can develop meaningful retention and recruitment strategies to capitalize on this wave. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Tennessee BR&E Online Course

Laith Wardi is scheduled to provide two-day certification instruction for the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services on May 5th and 6th. This is a regular "summer stop" for us and the folks at UTCIS put on an excellent offering, year in and year out. This session will feature a conversation with Dean Barber on everything topical in our profession. For more information, go to www.cis.tennessee.edu. Special thanks to Kim Denton for including us in these and other course offerings.

IEDC BR&E Online Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will join Erik Collins, Colleen Bond, Dale Wheeldon and others for a virtual Business Retention and Expansion Course for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on May 6th and 7th. It's going to be tight couple of days as the Tennessee session and IEDC overlap briefly. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Louisiana BR&E Online Course

Laith Wardi is scheduled to conduct a two-day, intensive business retention and expansion training course for the Louisiana Industrial Development Executive Association (LIDEA) on May 12th and 13th. This training is part of the Certified Louisiana Economic Development Program and is sponsored by Southeastern Louisiana University in conjunction with LIDEA. Laith will bring in a number of guest speakers including Dean Barber, Carolina Arriagada as well as Colleen Bond and Dale Wheeldon to cover specific topics. For more information, go to LIDEA's website. Special thanks to Ed Bee for keeping us involved here!

Economic Developers Alberta Annual Conference

Laith Wardi is taking part in a BR&E panel discussion on May 20th as part of the EDA Virtual Annual Conference this year. Special thanks to Natalie Gibson and the folks at EDA for getting us involved in the session.

ExecutivePulse has a longstanding strategic partnership with EDA. We provide technology to their member communities through Alberta Business Counts. For more information, go to www.edaalberta.ca.

Alabama Intensive Economic Development Training Course

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will conduct separate sessions on Business Retention & Expansion and Workforce Trends for Auburn University's Annual Intensive Economic Development Training Course on July 13th. This is an annual summer trip, and we always look forward to participating in this world-class economic development offering. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones is part of the equation here. For more information, visit the Auburn University course page. Thanks to David Mixon and the entire staff for looping us in again this year!

Central Arkansas Community Development Institute (CDI) Training

Laith Wardi will travel to Central Arkansas on Monday, August 2nd to conduct two training sessions for the University of Central Arkansas Community Development Institute. He'll do one session on Understanding Local Economies and another on Business Retention and Expansion. CDI is one of the finest economic development training programs in the nation and we are happy to be playing a role again in 2021 as the 2020 session was cancelled because of the pandemic. For more information, go to www.uca.edu.

Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course

Laith Wardi is scheduled to deliver the keynote kickoff and do a BR&E overview session at this year's Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course in Nashville on August 23rd. This is one of the nation's best intro courses and is always well attended. For more information, go to www.cis.tennessee.edu.

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins will provide virtual tag team instruction for Ohio's Economic Development Association (OEDA). The state certification training for business retention and expansion will be held on August 26th and 27th. This training curriculum is designed specifically for Ohio practitioners and features excellent content, panel discussions and statewide perspectives from JobsOhio. For more information on the session, go to OEDA's website

Speaking of JobsOhio…ExecutivePulse is the only third-party vendor that offers dynamic data exchange with their main, statewide CRM. Bottom line…our local and regional clients across the Buckeye State can seamlessly sync data with the folks in Columbus -- even though they are using different technology.

IEDC BR&E Session During Annual Conference

Laith Wardi, CEcD, and Erik Collins are scheduled to get back to in-person Business Retention and Expansion training for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) during their annual conference in Nashville on September 30th and October 1st. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Tennessee Economic Resiliency Course

Laith Wardi will provide moderation and speaking as part of a newly constituted two-day resiliency course for the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services on October 13th and 14th in Jackson, Tennessee. He'll be joined by resiliency and disaster experts from both the US and Canada during the session. The session will also feature panel discussions by Tennessee-based businesses and stakeholders. For more information, go to www.cis.tennessee.edu. Special thanks again to Kim Denton for including us in these innovative course offerings!

We expect more on the calendar as the year progresses.

Stay safe and stay tuned!

Speaking and Training Gigs

Even in the midst of the pandemic, we covered a lot of ground…figuratively. Like many of you, there were no flights or hotel stays for us in 2020. After living out of a suitcase for many years, that was a huge adjustment. The prospect of traveling again in 2021 poses another shock to the system after being deskbound in 2020. Anyway, the majority of scheduled speaking and training sessions in 2020 were seamlessly converted to webinar sessions and went off without a hitch. Like everyone else, we learned to use and appreciate various webinar tools -- embracing the new presentation options they offer.

New ExecutivePulse CRM System

Our all-new ExecutivePulse CRM version release in early 2020 spurred dozens of orientation and training sessions for existing clients and many demos for prospective customers. We departed from our usual client-specific webinar format and, instead, conducted a number of cross client orientation sessions on the new system.

New technology and new customers. We onboarded a lot of new customers in 2020 -- from Cobb County, Georgia to Seneca County, New York…from Cedar Hill, Texas to Saugeen Shores, Ontario. Many new ExecutivePulse customers are coming from "big box" or "one size fits all" CRM systems, but others have been using Excel or Access and feel it's time to do things more efficiently and impactfully.

New CRM Features and Enhancements

During the year, we added a number of major enhancements -- including powerful new Dashboarding -- to the CRM platform. In many cases, these enhancements were driven by customer feedback on the new ExecutivePulse CRM.

A large number of our customers have always been involved in BR&E but in 2020 they took it to a new level as part of their local, regional, state and provincial responses to COVID-19. To help our customers facilitate ongoing BR&E and Resiliency work while practicing social distancing, we released new Survey and Email Campaign functionality. This functionality is completely integrated into our CRM and doesn't require any third-party survey or email campaign software and clunky data exchange. A significant number of ExecutivePulse customers adopted these tools to facilitate COVID-19 response, BR&E and even virtual Focus Groups and Business Walks. Interested? Ask us!

Consulting Work

Speaking of BR&E and Resiliency…we began work with the Roanoke Regional Partnership on their ambitious effort to integrate and coordinate business retention, talent and workforce initiatives and disaster preparedness for the entire region. This work continues into 2021 and should culminate with comprehensive strategies, tools and tactics by May or June of this year. Stay tuned for more information.

ExecutivePulse 2020 CRM System Release

We released an all-new version of ExecutivePulse on January 27, 2020. The ExecutivePulse 2020 CRM System builds on the best attributes and general framework of the previous version while greatly enhancing functionality and adding many new, user friendly features. We've spent a lot of time rationalizing the CRM interface to eliminate unnecessary paging, clicking, scrolling and navigation pinch points.

The new 2020 version update went live for all of our North American customers—state, provincial, metro, regional and local—regardless of their level of customization. Early reviews are in and have been extremely positive! This has, undoubtedly, been the most friction free update since we started deploying technology in 1995. Certainly, there have been some minor issues and bugs, but our IT team has been correcting them on an aggressive schedule.

As you can imagine, we've been doing a lot of orientation & training sessions for our existing customers and have been extremely busy with demos with prospective clients. If you would like more information, please contact us! We'd love to show you the new CRM!

New Client Trends

Latter 2019 and early 2020 have been very busy with new clients. Here are recurring themes and feedback from our new customers:

- Many new clients (even those from larger markets and more complex organizations) were doing silo'ed data entry in products like Microsoft Access or Excel before they adopted ExecutivePulse. Our CRM platform spurs true communication and collaboration. Data is, for the first time, transparent and accessible across the entire spectrum of users. There is full accountability, and everyone is pulling in the same direction. You get the idea…

- Those new clients switching from other "economic development" CRMs are doing so because service after the sale has been mediocre to poor. Technical support requests either take forever to be remedied or, worse yet, are never addressed. Bugs and user issues are passively ignored. User suggestions and input are summarily discarded. If issues are addressed, customers feel they are being nickel and dimed for every change.

- Again, in situations where clients are coming from other "economic development" CRMs, we are hearing that data forms and inputs are prescriptive and the system vendor is unwilling or unable to customize the platform the meet the individual needs and circumstances. So, you are forced to work the way the vendor wants you to. Every user and organization are essentially using the same methodology for business recruitment, business retention, etc—regardless of their specific situation. This is also true for feature and function options.

- Finally, we are seeing new customers that previously jumped on the big box or free CRM bandwagon and are now jumping off. They became frustrated because, like the prescriptive "economic development" solutions, the features and functions of these systems are one-size-fits-all or too generic to be meaningful for economic developers.

In this same camp, we are hearing that the vendors who are building and supporting these big box solutions are not attuned to our industry. And because these vendors don't have a critical mass of economic development customers, they are learning on the job-offering solutions that don't align with the day-to-day realities of our industry.

Bottom line…do your homework and due diligence before adopting any CRM solution. This is a significant investment in time and money. Find a vendor and technology solution that work for you. One size and solution doesn't fit all. Most important, make sure the vendor understands how you work and has a reputation for listening and responding to their customers.

No matter how great the technology looks, service after the sale—hosting, training and technical support—is a major ingredient in your long-term happiness with a CRM.

The deployment of CRM technology, in many cases, requires you and your team to assess or reassess your work processes, methodologies and metrics/measurements of performance.

The adoption of a CRM mandates that you and your team have discipline in how you work. This means your work is transparent to others and there is ultimate accountability.

Fabulous Friday Forums

We are conducting a series of short, feature-based webinars for the 1,300+ ExecutivePulse users in our home state of Pennsylvania under the name Fabulous Friday Forums. If you are a PREP, Engage, OIBD or other user in the state, contact the folks at DCED for details about these sessions. Participation for the first sessions has been really great and we certainly want to see that continue.

First Friday Webinar Sessions

ExecutivePulse is offering similar First Friday Webinar sessions for Provincial clients in both Alberta and British Columbia to orient their users on the new CRM system. These webinars will provide a series of quick 15-20 minute "how to" sessions for the new ExecutivePulse 2020 CRM System. These sessions will begin in February and go into April. If you are currently using ExecutivePulse in either of these provinces, contact your economic development association—EDA Alberta or BCEDA—for more information on the sessions.

IEDC Session in Buffalo, NY

Laith Wardi, CEcD will once again team up with Erik Collins from Montgomery County, Ohio for IEDC's Business Retention and Expansion certification training. This time, they'll head to Buffalo, NY on March 26th and 27th for the two-day session. Content is always updated for IEDC training, so attendees are getting current, information, best practices and techniques. The sessions are always delivered with a focus on the audience in terms of delivery and group interaction. For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Tennessee Keynote and BR&E Session

Laith Wardi is going back to Nashville on May 4th for their Basic Economic Development Course. He'll once again provide the keynote for the week-long program and also do an intro session on BR&E. The folks at University of Tennessee put on a consistently excellent program. For more information, go to www.cis.tennessee.edu

Pennsylvania 20/20 Connections Conference

On the heels of the Tennessee trip, Laith Wardi will travel to South Central Pennsylvania for a two-day, statewide business retention and expansion conference, Connections 20/20. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania uses the ExecutivePulse 2020 CRM System for a variety of economic, workforce and foreign direct investment initiatives. There are over 1,300 active users across the state. During the conference, Laith will be doing technology orientation and training sessions. The keynote speaker for Connections 20/20 is Jeff Finkle from IEDC!

OU EDI Online BR&E Course

Laith Wardi is scheduled to once again provide instruction for OUEDI's eight-week online course for business retention and expansion. The course will begin on Monday, May 11th. OUEDI on-line courses offer a great learning opportunity with relevant reading, video content, weekly conference calls and visits with industry experts. For more information, go to OU EDI.

IEDC Online BR&E Course

Speaking of online instruction, Laith Wardi, Erik Collins and a few industry leading guest speakers will head up the first online BR&E course for International Economic Development Council in July. We are excited to be part of this new offering and learning option for IEDC! For more information, go to www.iedconline.org.

Alabama Intensive Economic Development Training Course

Laith Wardi will conduct a two-hour session on Business Retention and Expansion for Auburn University's 35th Annual Intensive Economic Development Training Course on July 20th. This is an annual summer trip and we always look forward to participating in this world-class economic development offering. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones is part of the equation here. For more information, visit the Auburn University course page.

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins will again provide tag team instruction for Ohio's Economic Development Association (OEDA) in beautiful Dublin, Ohio. The state certification training for business retention and expansion will be held on July 23rd and 24th. This training curriculum is designed specifically for Ohio practitioners and features excellent content, panel discussions and statewide perspectives from from JobsOhio. For more information on the session, go to OEDA's website and IEDC Online. Speaking of JobsOhio…we are the only third party vendor that offers dynamic data exchange with their main CRM. Bottom line…our local and regional clients across Ohio can seamlessly sync data with the folks in Columbus–even though they are using different technology.

Central Arkansas Community Development Institute (CDI) Training

Laith Wardi will return to Central Arkansas on Monday, August 3rd to conduct two training sessions for the University of Central Arkansas Community Development Institute. He'll do one session on Understanding Local Economies and another on Business Retention and Expansion. CDI is one of the finest economic development training programs in the nation and we are happy to be playing a role again in 2020. For more information, go to www.uca.edu.

IEDC Session in Phoenix, AZ

Laith Wardi, CEcD and Erik Collins will leave their colder home bases in PA and OH for IEDC's Business Retention and Expansion certification training in Phoenix, AZ on November 5th and 6th for a two-day session there. Attendees should expect current information, best practices and techniques on BR&E. The sessions are always delivered with a focus on the audience in terms of delivery and group interaction. For more information, go to IEDC Online.

OU EDI Online BR&E Course

As 2020 winds down, Laith Wardi is scheduled to provide instruction for the second OUEDI eight-week online course for business retention and expansion. The course will begin on Monday, November 16th and conclude in January 11th of 2021. We believe that OUEDI has put together a compelling BR&E course. It offers a cohesive mixture of reading, video content, weekly conference calls, student interaction and visits with industry experts. Their learning portal is very nice also. If you want to immerse yourself in business retention and expansion, this course is for you! For more information, go to OU EDI.

Stay tuned for more updates as the year progresses! We are working a couple of major announcements…

IEDC Session in Omaha

We will wind down the year where it started…with IEDC training. Laith Wardi and Erik Collins, Director of Montgomery County Ohio's Economic Development Department, will conduct a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council on November 14th and 15th in Omaha, Nebraska. This will be our first training session in this part of the US and should be great. This session will cover everything from the basics to topics like multi-layered touch points, social media and even disaster recovery. Laith Wardi of ExecutivePulse has been providing BR&E certification training for IEDC since 1995. For more information on this training session and other IEDC offering please go to IEDC Online.

OUEDI On-Line BR&E Course

Laith Wardi is scheduled to once again provide instruction for OUEDI's eight-week online course for business retention and expansion. The course will begin on November 11th. OUEDI on-line courses offer a great learning opportunity with relevant reading, video content, weekly conference calls and visits with industry experts. For more information, go to OU EDI.

Tennessee BR&E Session

Laith Wardi will travel to Knoxville for an intensive two-day BR&E session for the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services on November 6th and 7th. Special thanks to Kim Denton and the folks at UTCIS for, once again, including us in the session. This is state-level certification training and is always a great time.

Galion, Ohio Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will dissect best practices business retention and expansion for key elected, government and private sector stakeholders in Galion, Ohio on the 17th of September. He'll cover multi-touch and multi-layered BR&E strategies for 2020 and beyond. Looking forward to the session!

Washington, DC

Laith Wardi traveled to Washington, DC on September 4th and 5th to meet with the folks at the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). We compared notes and shared best practices on business retention & expansion as well as disaster preparedness and recovery. It was great listening to and learning from the informed and active staff at IEDC. Special thanks to Jeff Finkle for making all of this possible!

JEDISO Session in Ohio

Laith Wardi traveled to southeast Ohio for regional business retention & expansion training as well as CRM training on August 21st and 22nd. The JEDISO region is one of many Ohio communities and regions that use the ExecutivePulse CRM System for their economic development needs. ExecutivePulse is the only third-party CRM that integrates with Ohio's JobsOhio CRM.

Central Arkansas Community Development Institute (CDI) Training

Laith Wardi returned to Central Arkansas on July 29th to conduct two training sessions for the University of Central Arkansas Community Development Institute. He did one session on Understanding Local Economies and another on Business Retention and Expansion. The folks at CDI run a world class program and we were happy to be involved again in 2019. For more information, go to UCA.edu.

IEDC Session in Atlanta

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins, Director of Montgomery County Ohio's Economic Development Department, conducted a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council on July 18th and 19th at the world-class Georgia Tech Training Center. This session covered everything from the basics to topics like multi-layered touch points, social media and even disaster recovery. Laith Wardi of ExecutivePulse has been providing BR&E certification training for IEDC since 1995. For more information on this training session and other IEDC offering please go to IEDC Online.

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi tag teamed with Erik Collins twice in July for business retention and expansion training. The first session was in Dublin, Ohio on July 11th and 12th for the Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA). The second session was a week later in Atlanta, Georgia for the International Economic Development Council on July 18th and 19th. For more information, go to OEDA's website and IEDC Online.

Alabama Intensive Economic Development Training Course

Laith Wardi conducted a two hour session on Business Retention and Expansion for Auburn University's 35th Annual Intensive Economic Development Training Course on July 9th. This is an annual summer trip and we always look forward to participating in this world-class economic development offering. For more information, visit the Auburn University course page.

Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course

Laith Wardi was back in Nashville on May 6th for the Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course. He did the conference kick off presentation on economic and workforce development trends and a separate session on business retention and expansion. This is a regular, annual stop and it's always great to see old friends and meet new ones. For more information, check out the TBEDC course page.

OUEDI On Line BR&E Course

Laith Wardi provided instruction for OUEDI's eight-week online course for business retention and expansion. The course began on May 13th and ran through July 7th. This course had over 35 participants who were incredibly active throughout the 8 weeks. OUEDI on-line courses offer a great learning opportunity with relevant reading, video content, weekly conference calls and visits with industry experts. For more information, go to OU EDI.

Cleveland, Ohio BR&E Training

Laith Wardi conducted business retention and expansion training for the Greater Cleveland Partnership on March 18th in Independence Ohio. This session was developed specifically for their business development team and focused on outreach. For more information on the Greater Cleveland Partnership, go to www.gcpartnership.com.

Louisiana BR&E Training

Laith Wardi traveled to Hammond, Louisiana in early April to conduct a two-day, intensive business retention and expansion training course for the Louisiana Industrial Development Executive Association (LIDEA). This training is part of the Certified Louisiana Economic Development Program and is sponsored by Southeastern Louisiana University in conjunction with LIDEA. For more information, go to LIDEA's website. Special thanks to Ed Bee for keeping us involved here!

EDCO Webinar Series

Laith Wardi conducted a four-part "lunch and learn" webinar series, Disruptive Technologies & Economic Development, for the Economic Developers Council of Ontario. This series explored trends in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Drones and much more…and how these emerging technologies impact our private sector and ultimately will change our economic development profession. The series ran from March through early May of 2019. For more information, go to EDCO's website.

British Columbia EDA Annual Conference

Laith Wardi traveled to Richmond, British Columbia in early March for BCEDA BC Economic Summit. He was part of a North American panel discussion on best practices BR&E. The annual in British Columbia is always a great session with excellent take-a-ways. 2019 was certainly no exception. For more information, go to BCEDA's website.

C2ER Webinar

Laith Wardi, CEcD, participated in the webinar, How Do Economic Development Researchers Use CRM Systems, for the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CERC) and Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). The webinar was broadcast on February 28th at 3:00pm ET. For more information, visit C2ER's Website.

IEDC Session in Baltimore

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins, Director of Montgomery County Ohio's Economic Development Department, conducted a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council on February 26 and 27th in Baltimore, Maryland. This session covered everything from the basics to topics like multi-layered touch points, social media and even disaster recovery. Laith Wardi of ExecutivePulse has been providing BR&E certification training for IEDC since 1995. For more information on this training session and other IEDC offering please go to IEDC Online.

Springfield Missouri MOmentum Conference

Laith Wardi traveled to Springfield, Missouri in February to present the keynote for their regional MOmentum State of the Workforce Conference. He explored workforce realities and remedies in this age of talent scarcity. Go to MOmentum's website for more information.

OUEDI On Line BR&E Course

Laith Wardi will instruct for OUEDI's eight-week online course for business retention and expansion. The course will begin November 11, 2018 and conclude on January 7th, 2019. The course features great reading and video content as well as weekly conference calls and visits with industry leading experts. Looks like another full class!

OUEDI BR&E Session

Laith Wardi will travel to New Orleans on November 5th and 6th to present Global Technology Trends Impacting Economic Development for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute (OUEDI) PLUS. While in the Big Easy, he'll conduct an intensive two-day BR&E training session for OUEDI.

IEDC Session in Toronto

Laith Wardi and Dale Wheeldon, from British Columbia's Economic Development Association, will conduct a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council on October 18 and 19. This session will cover everything from the basics to topics like multi-layered touch points, social media and disaster recovery.

IEDC Annual Conference in Atlanta

Laith Wardi will moderate a 90-minute session, "Reinventing BR&E in the Global Economy" during IEDC's Annual Conference in Atlanta. Panelists include Allison Larsen CEcD, Jenny Mizutowicz CEcD, Erik Collins and Dale Wheeldon. Should be a great session with a lot of pertinent takeaways and food for thought.

OEDI BR&E Session

Laith Wardi will travel to the Columbus Ohio region on September 20 and 21 to conduct an intensive two-day BR&E training session for the Ohio Economic Development Association. He'll be tag teaming with Erik Collins from Dayton Metro area.

IEDC in Denver

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins, Director of Montgomery County Ohio's Economic Development Department, will conduct a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council in Denver, CO on August 16th and 17th. Recovery. Should be a full house. We are looking forward to the session!

Arkansas Community Development Institute (CDI)

Laith Wardi presented two sessions for the Arkansas Community Development Institute on August 30th. The first session was "Understanding Local Economies" and the second session was "Business Retention and Expansion." CDI was held at the Central Arkansas Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center. This was our first time involved with CDI and what they are doing is truly impressive. Lots of professional students who are excited and engaged in the economic development profession!

Speaking of Universities and BR&E Training…

Laith Wardi will head to Jackson, TN on July 18th and 19th for a two-day BR&E training session sponsored by the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services. This training is part of the Tennessee Certified Economic Developer training curriculum. Special thanks to Kim Denton, CEcD for including us in the mix again this year. This is another longstanding summer session for ExecutivePulse. It's always great being part of this training.

Auburn University Intensive Economic Development Training Course

Laith Wardi will conduct a morning training session on best practices BR&E at the Auburn University Intensive Economic Development Training Course on July 10th in Auburn, Alabama. We've been doing this training for many years and it's always a great experience. Special thanks to Dr. Joe Sumners and his entire staff for including us again in 2018!

Springfield MO MOmentum

Laith Wardi has been invited to return to Springfield, MO in early 2019 to present the keynote for their regional MOmentum State of the Workforce Conference. More details will be forthcoming as details are available.

British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA)

Laith Wardi will travel to British Columbia for a June 11th presentation at the British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA) Annual Conference in Kelowna. BCEDA and many communities and regions across the Province use ExecutivePulse for their economic development CRM needs. Happy to be involved with BCEDA again this year!

City of Springfield, MO Department of Workforce Development

Laith Wardi will travel to Missouri to facilitate a workforce strategic planning session for the City of Springfield Department of Workforce Development on Wednesday, June 6th. The session will feature a presentation on technology trends that impact our private sector and how this ultimately alters the economic development equation. The balance of the day will be spent formulating a workforce plan for the Ozark Region.

OU EDI Business Retention Course

A new OU EDI Business Retention on line course begins on May 21st. Laith Wardi will be instructing this eight-week course for the fourth time. This OU EDI on line offering provides the opportunity for students to fully immerse themselves in all things BR&E.

Visit OU EDI for more information!

Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course

Laith Wardi will speak at the Tennessee Basic Economic Development Course on Monday, May 7th in Nashville. The course is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services/Institute for Public Service. Laith will kick the course off with an overview of emerging economic and workforce trends and then do a brief session on BR&E.

OU EDI Plus in Ft. Worth Texas

Laith Wardi will present on Global Technology Trends Impacting Economic Development at OUEDI Plus in Ft. Worth on Monday, April 30th.

Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) 2018

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will participate in a panel discussion on business retention and expansion at EDCO's 2018 conference in Toronto on Tuesday, February 6th. The session--Decoding the Art and Science of Supporting Your Existing Business--will be moderated by Stephen Morris, Team Lead for Economic Development at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The session also features Chris Lau, Manager of Disruptive Technologies Unit at OMAFRA. Thanks to Stephen for including us in this session!

IEDC Session in Las Vegas

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins, Director of Montgomery County Ohio's Economic Development Department, will conduct a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council on January 25th and 26th. They'll be joined by Dale Wheeldon, Director of British Columbia's Economic Development Association, on Friday to discuss Disaster Recovery. Looking forward to the session!

New Clients

Let's dispel the notion that people are in "shut down mode" after Halloween each year as they prepare for the holidays. We've been extremely busy with new and existing client work over the past few months. This hasn't slowed down--even during December. We want to acknowledge a number of new ExecutivePulse CRM clients including Cheyenne LEADs and Goshen County in Wyoming, Red Deer Alberta, the JEDISO region of Ohio, Merced County California, League City Texas, Longmont Colorado and Norfolk County Ontario. Most of these new customers switched from other economic development CRM systems.

IEDC Business Retention and Expansion Webinar

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will be participating in IEDC's Business Retention and Expansion Webinar--It's All About Relationships: Trends in Supporting Your Existing Businesses--on Tuesday, December 12th from 2:30-4:00pm ET. Laith will be sharing presentation duties with Melinda Goforth and Jennifer Graves, CEcD, for this session. Contact IEDC at webinar@iedconline.org to sign up for more information.

New Modules, Features and Enhancements

ExecutivePulse is releasing 14 major modules, features and enhancements to our CRM System in early December 2017. Contact our management or technical staff for details on these significant updates to our CRM System.

Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth

Laith Wardi will conduct a one-day business retention & expansion session for Ohio's Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG). This training will focus on general business retention and global trends as well as outreach skills.

IEDC Session in Atlanta

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins will conduct a two-day BR&E certification session for the International Economic Development Council on November 2nd and 3rd at Georgia Tech. We've trained at Georgia Tech's Conference Center many times before. They offer a state-of-the-art training venue and great support for the BR&E course. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) BR&E Training

Laith Wardi will join Erik Collins in Dublin, Ohio for a two-day BR&E training session on October 26 and 27. The session will be held at Ohio University's Integrated Educational Center. This session is sponsored by the Ohio Economic Development Association in conjunction with JobsOhio and Ohio University.

Auburn University BR&E Session

Laith Wardi, CEcD, will conduct a business retention and expansion training session for the Economic & Community Development Institute at Auburn University on July 12th. ExecutivePulse has a longstanding relationship with the Economic & Community Development Institute. We appreciate the opportunity to do this training session each year for them.

Powhatan Virginia BR&E Sessions

Laith Wardi will be in Powhatan, Virginia the week of June 26th for a few days of business retention training and mentoring work. ExecutivePulse is working with Liz Povar and the folks at The RiverLink Group. The BR&E component is part of a comprehensive new framework for community, economic and workforce development in this Virginia county being developed by RiverLink. ExecutivePulse is providing ongoing consulting services as Powhatan adopts a new, more systematic and sustainable business retention program.

New Clients

Alberta communities, Devon and Lac La Biche, have recently adopted ExecutivePulse for their CRM needs. In North Carolina, we are working with The City of Raleigh and Transylvania County. We are also working with new clients in Ashland County Ohio, Lebanon Tennessee, Queen Anne's County Maryland, Rosenberg Texas, Luzerne County Pennsylvania, Sumter County Florida and Nipawin Saskatchewan.

BusinessFirst! Session

Laith Wardi will conduct presentations on global trends and best-practices business retention and expansion for economic development and workforce stakeholders in the Dayton, Ohio market area. ExecutivePulse has worked with Erik Collins and the BusinessFirst! business retention and expansion program in that region of Ohio since 2000. It's always great to see our friends in the dynamic Miami Valley region. The session is scheduled for Monday, June 5th at their new Montgomery County Business Solutions Center.

Webinar for Dubuque Iowa

Laith Wardi will conduct a webinar for economic developers in the Dubuque, Iowa regional market area on global technology trends and best practices in business retention & expansion. The two-hour session will be offered on Monday, May 22nd. This session is sponsored by the East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA). Special thanks to Holly McPherson and her team for the invitation and all the help!

New Clients

We're happy to announce two new clients in the Grand Canyon State. The Tucson metro area and Prescott Valley have both adopted ExecutivePulse for their database technology needs. These are very different markets areas--each with unique needs for a CRM. They join other Arizona communities from Buckeye to Yuma that are using the ExecutivePulse.

Tennessee

Laith Wardi will be doing both the keynote kickoff and a two-hour BR&E session for the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services (UTCIS) on May 8th in Nashville. Happy to be involved with UTCIS and visiting with the great folks in Tennessee in early May.

IEDC Session in New Mexico

Laith Wardi will once again team up with Erik Collins, Economic Development Manager for Montgomery County Ohio, for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) BR&E Session on May 4th and 5th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We've updated course content to reflect emerging global technology and workforce trends as well as new approaches to BR&E. Look forward to a great session with our friends in the Southwest US and beyond.

Tennessee

Laith Wardi conducted a two-day BR&E session for the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services on March 20th and 21st outside of Memphis. Great session with state, regional and local professionals from around the state. Special thanks to Kim Denton and the folks at UTCIS for including us in the session and all of their support! Laith will be back in Tennessee in early May doing a keynote and BR&E overview for their basic course in Nashville.

Louisiana

Laith Wardi conducted a two-day BR&E session for Louisiana's Industrial Development Executives Association (LIDEA) at Southeastern Louisiana University in on March 14th and 15th. Great group of state, regional and local economic developers from around the state made for an excellent class. Special thanks to Ed Bee and Scot Byrd for the third opportunity to work with LIDEA.

OUEDI BR&E Course

Laith Wardi is instructing his third on line BR&E class for Oklahoma University's Economic Development Institute. This eight-week course offers a great mix of professional content--from IEDC, customized video case studies and other best practice examples from across North America. Best of all, students learn a lot from each over the two-month course. We also feature "virtual field trip" with industry experts on topics like Disaster Recovery and Workforce Development. This is the first of two offerings in 2017. For more information on OUEDI and their business retention offering, please visit them on the web.

IEDC Session in Jacksonville, Florida

Laith Wardi will do tag team BR&E instruction with Erik Collins, Economic Development Manager for Montgomery County Ohio, for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on January 26th and 27th in Jacksonville, Florida. This is the first BR&E session for 2017. There will be two additional sessions--Albuquerque in May and Atlanta in November. As always, course content will reflect relevant global economic trends as well as new information on retention and expansion. We look forward to this two-day course and seeing everyone there! This session is held in conjunction with IEDC's Leadership Summit.

IEDC Session in Madison, Wisconsin

Laith Wardi will do tag team BR&E instruction with Erik Collins, Economic Development Manager for Montgomery County Ohio, for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on October 13 and 14, 2016 in Madison Wisconsin. This is the fourth session Wardi has conducted for IEDC this year and the third for Collins. As always, we have updated course content to reflect relevant global economic trends as well as new information on retention and expansion. We look forward to this two-day course and seeing everyone there!

New Clients

2016 has been an extremely busy year for us. Here's a partial list of new clients. Bend Oregon, Birmingham Alabama Region, Boone County Indiana, Fuquay-Varina North Carolina, Gallup New Mexico, Gillett Wyoming, Loveland Colorado, Mason County Colorado, Philadelphia Regional Workforce Investment Board, Saratoga County New York, Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, Solano County, California, Tallahassee Florida and Yarmouth Maine. In addition, we are doing a lot of new and interesting projects with our existing customers.

Solano California

Laith Wardi will meet with economic development and workforce development professionals from the Solano California metro area as part of their implementation of the ExecutivePulse CRM platform. This trip is slated for latter October 2016. We are working with our friends at Chabin Concepts on this great project. Special thanks to Audrey Taylor from Chabin for her help with this project.

Hermosillo, Sonora Mexico

Laith Wardi will conduct a two-day FDI Aftercare session for public and private sector stakeholders in Sonora, Mexico in early September. The session will explore the commonalities and differences between traditional BRE and Aftercare. The session will provide officials in Sonora with a sustainable framework for growing firms after FDI.

New York State BR&E Session

Laith Wardi will travel to Albany on June 21st to conduct a session on best practices business retention and expansion for the state's Economic Development Council (NYEDC). Thanks to Rob Camoin for the invitation.

IEDC Session in Vancouver, British Columbia

Laith Wardi will conduct a two-day BR&E training session with Dale Wheeldon, President of the Province's Economic Development Association. This training session, scheduled for June 15th and 16th, is part of the International Economic Development Council's (IEDC's) professional certification program. Because so many communities and regions in the Province of British Columbia use the ExecutivePulse 2016 CRM, we'll be doing a technology refresher and preview of new features and functions of the CRM on June 14th--a day before IEDC's retention and expansion session.

Tennessee

Laith Wardi will do two speaking sessions for the Tennessee Economic Development Council on May 2nd. During the first session. he'll explore trends in economic development. The second session will focus on BR&E basics. This is the third time ExecutivePulse has worked with the folks at the Tennessee Economic Development Council. The session will be held in Nashville.

IEDC BR&E Training

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins will provide business retention and expansion certification training for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) the 14th and 15th of April in Lansing Michigan. This training is co-sponsored by the Michigan Economic Developer Association (MEDA). Look forward to this two-day training session and seeing everyone there!

New Clients

The latter part of 2015 was very busy for us. The trend continues in 2016. A number of new communities from both Canada and the United States have adopted ExecutivePulse for their economic development efforts. Here are some examples: From metro Ontario, Canada we welcome the Cities of Barrie and North Bay! From Texas, we welcome the Cities of Addison and Murphy as well as Bastrop County! In Washington State, we welcome the Cities of Issaquah and Renton! In Georgia, we welcome City of Marietta! In Ohio, we welcome Richland County! In Virginia, we welcome Goochland County!

IEDC Business Retention & Expansion Class

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins from Montgomery Ohio will offer tag team instruction for IEDC's business retention and expansion class in Baltimore, Maryland on February 25 and 26th. For more information, visit IEDC Online.

IEDC Business Retention and Expansion Training

Erik Collins and Laith Wardi conducted a two-day business retention and expansion training session for IEDC in Denver on August 20th and 21st. We had a full house of smart and actively engaged economic developers from across North America. You made the class fly by. This was a truly enjoyable learning and sharing environment. Thanks for a great two days!

Business Retention and Expansion in Montana

It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones during the half day business retention and expansion training session in Flathead County Montana on August 18th. The session was sponsored by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and included key local, regional and state stakeholders. This market area is doing some great things and they certainly have a cohesive economic development team.

Business Retention Session for Auburn University

On July 8th, Laith Wardi will do a two-hour session on business retention and expansion as part of Auburn University's Intensive Economic Development Training Course. This is the second time ExecutivePulse has presented for this event.

OU EDI

ExecutivePulse is pleased to announce that Laith Wardi will serve as Program Coordinator for OU-EDI's online professional development class on business retention and expansion. This eight-week distance learning course begins in June 2015. For more information on the course, visit OU EDI.

They'd Rather Switch Than Fight

What do economic developers in places like Eugene Oregon, Santa Rosa Florida and Vaughan Ontario have in common? They all switched from another BR&E technology system to the ExecutivePulse 2015 CRM. These market areas represent a major movement from another BR&E system to ExecutivePulse over the past few years. If you are tired of fighting with a one size fits all technology solution that doesn't work for your community or organization, contact us today. Our newest CRM provides for BR&E, Investment Attraction, Entrepreneurial Development, Workforce and much more.

BREI--Nova Scotia

Laith Wardi will demo and discuss the ExecutivePulse 2015 CRM at the Business Retention and Expansion International (BREI) Annual Conference in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia on June 25th. The province of Nova Scotia has used ExecutivePulse for over a decade, but they recently overhauled their retention and expansion framework. This technology demo gives new practitioners across the province and any other interested conference attendees a chance to see database features, functions and navigation for themselves.

IEDC Business Retention and Expansion Training

Erik Collins, Economic Development Manager for Montgomery County Ohio, and Laith Wardi will travel to the Big Easy--New Orleans--to conduct a two-day session on business retention and expansion for the International Economic Development Council. The session is being held on May 21st and 22nd at the Hilton New Orleans. Sessions for IEDC are always well attended and well received! Hope to see you there!

TadZo Consulting Blog

We are featured in Allison Larsen's blog on her Tadzo Consulting website. Go to TadZo Blog for the complete interview. A sincere thank you to Allison for the interest and blog article!

Economic Developers Alberta Annual Conference

ExecutivePulse principal, Laith Wardi, will conduct an in-depth CRM training session as part of the Economic Developers Alberta (EDA) Annual Conference. This year's conference will be held from April 8-10 at the Delta Kananaskis Lodge. Wardi and a number of seasoned Provincial users will explore both basic and advanced features of the ExecutivePulse 2015 CRM. This CRM has been customized and deployed specifically for EDA and their communities throughout the Province of Alberta. Aside from Alberta, ExecutivePulse is actively working with the Provinces of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

IEDC BR&E Session-Tempe, Arizona

Laith Wardi and Erik Collins, Director of Economic Development for Montgomery County Ohio, conducted a two-day business retention and expansion training session for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) February 5th and 6th. We had the pleasure of meeting over 80 attendees from all over North America. Great group! Thanks for your feedback and interest in the session. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and interacting with everyone in the class.

Appalachian Power Company Webinar

Laith Wardi will conduct a 90-minute webinar session, Reinventing and Reinvigorating Business Retention and Expansion, for Appalachian Power Company and their economic development and business allies on November 18th at 10am. The webinar will dissect global economic changes and how they ultimately impact economic development as a whole and, specifically, BR&E. The session will provide rationale for a new, multi-layered approach to BR&E that goes well beyond the traditional model of annual surveys. The session will focus on BR&E as a driver to deliver return on investment and bottom line value to private sector business constituents. The session will also provide a framework and clear path forward for success of the participants. The session is free to members of their stakeholder network. For details, go to AEPED's website.

Business Retention and Expansion Training

We'll be in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on November 13th and 14th to conduct business retention and expansion training for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Coincidentally, ExecutivePulse provides CRM technology to many parts of the Tar Heel State to include the Research Triangle region. See you there!

IEDC Annual Conference in Ft. Worth

ExecutivePulse is a longstanding Chairman's Club sponsor of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). This year, we'll be at their Annual Conference in Ft. Worth, TX. There is a lot going on! Please visit us at booth 500 to see our newest CRM and mobile app. See technology in action during our session, CRM Technology for Economic Development, on Monday, October 20 from 1:45 to 3:15. Plan to attend our panel discussion, Using Business Retention to Prepare for and Mitigate Disasters, on Tuesday, October 21 from 2:15 to 3:45. See you there!

Business Retention and Expansion Training

ExecutivePulse principal, Laith Wardi, and Erik Collins from Montgomery County Ohio provided certified business retention and expansion training for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on August 21st and 22nd. The session was held in Indianapolis. Coincidentally, the Indy Chamber and affiliated organizations are now using the ExecutivePulse 2014 CRM for business retention, investment attraction and workforce needs.

All New CRM and Mobile Apps

We are pleased to formally release an all-new responsive design CRM system for ALL ExecutivePulse clients across North America. This new site works seamlessly with personal computers, tablets and smart phones. It provides a full CRM experience, regardless of what device is being used. The CRM also has a number of great new features and functions

In addition to the new responsive design CRM, we have also released all-new mobile apps for Apple, Android, Microsoft and even Kindle devices. The mobile app provides a lighter version of the full CRM that is optimized nicely for both tablets and smart phones. This download is available at all major app stores and is free!

Alabama

ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, will do a business retention and expansion training session at Auburn University on July 16th. This session is sponsored by the University's Economic & Community Development Institute-ECDI. This is the second time in 2014 ExecutivePulse has been in Alabama doing speaking and training on business retention and expansion. Laith Wardi was in Birmingham in early February doing a session for the Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA). We look forward to seeing our friends there next month.

Miami Valley Ohio

ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, is scheduled to speak on new developments and best practices in business retention on July 10th. This session is being sponsored by The Dayton Development Coalition in conjunction with the region's BusinessFirst! business retention program. ExecutivePulse has a relationship with the Dayton metro area dating back to 2000. The region's BusinessFirst! initiative is considered a model business retention and expansion program--not only for Ohio, but globally.

New Clients

We are happy to announce three new clients that, we feel, represent the diversity of our customers. The Coweta County, Georgia Development Authority will use ExecutivePulse both for existing industry and business recruitment work in that dynamic part of the state. The Indianapolis, Indiana Chamber will use ExecutivePulse for business retention, business recruitment, entrepreneurial development and workforce development in Marion County. ExecutivePulse currently works throughout the Hoosier State and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work in this world class community. Finally, Alaska's Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development will use ExecutivePulse for an ambitious, coordinated business retention and expansion initiative that will impact all urban and rural areas of that state. Stay tuned for periodic updates on new clients.

British Columbia Economic Development Association

ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, will conduct two breakout sessions during the British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA) Annual Conference in Vancouver on June 10th. The first session will focus on ExecutivePulse CRM technology that is being used across the Province for their successful BC BusinessCounts business retention and expansion program. The second session will focus on best practices business retention and expansion tips and techniques. ExecutivePulse is currently working with the Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan in Canada on diverse economic development initiatives.

New BRE.GURU site!

We have launched an all new site, BRE.guru. As the name implies, the site is focused solely on business retention and expansion. Feel free to visit the new website. When you do, be sure to go the Spotlight article from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Greater Halifax Partnership has been doing systematic business retention and expansion for over a decade. They provide some great cause and effect case studies on programs, policies and strategies that have emanated from their Smart Business Program.

Business Retention and Expansion Training Course

ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, and Montgomery County Ohio Director of Community and Economic Development, Erik Collins, will be in Atlanta Georgia on April 24th and 25th to conduct a business retention and expansion training course for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). This year's two-day session will again be held at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. This business retention and expansion course meets the professional development requirements for the Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) exam. Visit IEDC Online for more information.

Economic Developers Alberta

ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, will speak at the Economic Developers Alberta Annual Conference at the Delta Kananaskis Lodge near Calgary on April 9th. Economic Developers Alberta acquired the provincial license for the ExecutivePulse 6.0 CRM in latter 2013. This technology is the foundation of their Alberta Business Counts business retention and expansion program. Alberta Business Counts is modeled after similar business retention & expansion initiatives in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Laith will demonstrate the ExecutivePulse 6.0 CRM during a 90-minute session. We hope to see all of our existing Alberta clients and any interested persons there!

More on Pennsylvania PREP

In March, ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, will travel to three regions in Pennsylvania as part of a statewide CRM deployment for their Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance (PREP) initiative. Deployment and training will take place in the Lehigh Valley, South Central and Southeast regions of the Commonwealth. Laith will be joined by Neil Fowler, Director of Pennsylvania's Office of Innovation and Investment, and Carolyn Lengel, PREP Manager. This training represents the final stage of initial CRM deployment in Pennsylvania.

Economic Development Association of Alabama

ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, is scheduled to present on business retention and expansion for the Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA) on February 4th. A special thank you to Warren Hicks, Tennessee Valley Authority's Project Manager for Alabama, for all of his help and patience. This speaking engagement was originally slated for last year, but bad winter weather forced a last-minute cancellation. We are looking forward to visiting Alabama in 2014.

Pennsylvania PREP

In January, ExecutivePulse President, Laith Wardi, will travel to three regions in Pennsylvania as part of a statewide CRM deployment for their Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance (PREP) initiative. Deployment and training will take place in the Central, Northeast and Northern Tier regions of the Commonwealth. Laith will be joined by Neil Fowler, Director of Pennsylvania's Office of Innovation and Investment, and Carolyn Lengel, PREP Manager. The North Central, Northwest, Southern Alleghenies and Southwest Regions have already been deployed. Stay tuned for more news from Pennsylvania!