Ahead of the Curve

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Episode 38: Dan Marvin Nov 23, 2021

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In this episode, we discuss economic development strategies in Lincoln, building well-distributed affordable housing, homeless prevention efforts, and using data to drive decisions.
About Dan Marvin
Dan Marvin serves as the Director of the Urban Development Department for the City of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Dan Marvin has served as an At-Large member of the Lincoln City Council (2005-2009), a member of the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Commission, worked on the City of Lincoln Infrastructure Finance Committee, and the Lincoln Economic Development Task Force.
During his service on the Lincoln City Council, Dan served on the Railroad Transportation Safety District, Community Development Task Force and the City Council Internal Liquor Committee. Dan reorganized city government through an early retirement plan that lowered the cost of government, helped craft financing plans that provided over $200 million dollars toward water and sewer utility infrastructure and $68 million dollars for road infrastructure. Dan also worked with the Lancaster County Board to help craft the financial plan for a new $70 million dollar jail facility.
From 2009 to 2013 Dan served as the Secretary / Executive Director of the West Haymarket Joint Public Agency (WHJPA). Dan played key roles in the development of the political and financial structure of the WHJPA. The WHJPA project is the single largest project of its kind in Lincoln’s history. It is a $350 million public investment project that includes roads and utilities, private land acquisition, district energy system, parking facilities, and a 16,000 seat multi-purpose arena. This project will eventually spawn well over $300 million dollars of additional private development.
In 2014 Dan served as the executive director of the Nebraska Democratic Party. As the ED, he managed a budget of over one million dollars. uring the year Dan was responsible for directing a number of operations including the State Convention and assisted in a successful statewide petition effort to raise the State’s minimum wage.
In 2019 Dan became the Director of Urban Development for the City of Lincoln. The Urban Development department is responsible for managing Lincoln's share of federal Community Development Block Grant funds, serving as the City's Redevelopment Authority, coordinating the acquisition of Right of Way and sales of City property, and managing public parking resources.
Prior to 2019, Dan owned and operated Marvin Investment Management Company, a registered investment advisory firm. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 1981. Dan and his wife, Donna, have lived in Lincoln for over 30 years. They have three children.

Episode 37: Adam Burg Oct 27, 2021

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In this episode, we discuss congressional earmarks, building transparency into county spending processes, and how COVID-19 led to increased community engagement and the creation of innovative new programs.
About Adam Burg
Adam Burg serves as the Legislative and Government Affairs Senior Advisor for Adams County, Colorado.
Adams County is the fifth-largest county in Colorado, serving more than 500,000 residents. In 2019, Adams County lead the nation in job growth, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The county continues to be a major economic and political driver in the Denver-metro area and larger region.

Adam’s career highlights include work on the Colorado Secretary of State campaign for now-Congressman Joe Neguse, the reelection campaign for former Colorado State Senator Cheri Jahn, work for the Colorado Democratic Party on behalf of former U.S. Senator Mark Udall, and a Fellowship with the Colorado House Majority Project.

In addition to his campaign experience, Adam spent two years at the Colorado General Assembly working for State Senator and Joint Budget Committee Chair Dominick Moreno (Adam worked for him when he was the Assistant Majority Leader in the Colorado State House). Adam also co-founded a political consulting firm, L&B Strategies LLC. Adam and his business partner built a successful firm that focused on political consulting, government relations, and business strategy.

In his current role as the Legislative and Government Affairs Senior Advisor for Adams County, Adam spearhead’s the county's government affairs and legislative programs, working directly with the county manager, county commissioners, and other elected officials to advance the credibility of the county in federal, state, and local arenas.

Adam manages a team that oversees Adams County's government relations portfolio, which includes frequent meetings and updates with the board of county commissioners and regional partners, managing both state and federal lobby teams, advocating for county priorities at the Colorado State Capitol, and coordinating with their federal delegation to ensure they are informed of county priorities.

Adam’s previous positions and current role have allowed him to work on a diverse number of policy issues such as oil and gas/natural resources, affordable housing, local government and state relations, education, technology, growth and sustainability, renewable energy, aerospace, infrastructure, and transportation, among other areas of policy.

Policy decisions impact different levels of government in unique ways. Adam’s career has enabled him to develop a well-rounded understanding of the unique relationships between cities, counties, and the state.

Episode 36: Pamela Wideman Oct 06, 2021

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In this episode, we discuss the City of Charlotte's approach to affordable housing and how to leverage data for affordable housing strategies.
About Pamela Wideman
Pamela Wideman currently serves as the Director of the City of Charlotte’s Housing & Neighborhood Services Department, the 15th largest city in the country. In this role, she is responsible for oversight of the City’s Affordable Housing efforts including the Housing Trust Fund, Emergency Repair, Rehabilitation Homelessness, and Down Payment Assistance Programs. Additionally, Pam is responsible for the City’s Code Enforcement, Community Engagement divisions, the Office of Equity, Mobility and Immigrant Integration, and the Char-Meck 311 Call Center.

Ms. Wideman has more than 25 years of local government experience. She is adept at forging creative solutions to government issues at the local level. Pamela was awarded the Master of Public Administration Alumna of the Year and received a Leadership in Black Excellence from her alma mater, the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. She was also nominated as a Women’s In Leadership Champion by the Charlotte Chapter of the Urban Land Institute. And, she was recognized as one of the top 10 “Behind the Scenes” newsmakers by the Charlotte Business Journal in both 2017 and 2020.

Ms. Wideman currently serves as a member of the International City/County Management Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators.

Previously, she served on the Board of Directors for the PNC Community Development Bank and as the Vice-Chair of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Affordable Housing Committee where she provided guidance and recommendations for policy and funding approaches to support and encourage the development of affordable housing near transit stops. Additionally, she was a participant with the German Marshall Fund Dialogue for Change Cohort. She is past President of the Southern Piedmont Chapter of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Association of the Greater Carolinas.

Pamela received her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from UNC - Charlotte and her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Belmont Abbey College. She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Institute of Government - Municipal Administration Program and completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program, an Executive Education Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School. She completed the National Forum for Black Public Administrator’s Executive Leadership Institute program, designed to develop future Assistant and City Managers throughout the County.

Episode 35: Sarah Viñas Sep 15, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we discuss using data and maps to engage residents and inform decisions, the critical importance of designing programs and services alongside residents, and building inclusion and equity into resident engagement strategies.
About Sarah Viñas
Sarah is the Director of Housing and Community for the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Sarah joined the Town of Chapel Hill over a decade ago. She has served in a variety of roles within the Town Manager's Office, Public Works, and most recently Housing and Community, where she is Interim Director.

Before joining the Town, Sarah worked in the nonprofit sector for several years doing community development and anti-poverty work. She served as a Congressional Hunger Fellow in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and subsequently Executive Director of two nonprofit organizations in Florida and North Carolina.

Sarah holds a BA in Sociology and Religion with a Minor in Community Building and Social Change from Emory University. She also holds an MPA from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Her work has been featured by the Harvard Kennedy School, the Alliance for Innovation, World Hunger Year, and NY Times, among other sources.

Sarah has a passion for social justice, equitable community engagement, and affordable housing.

Episode 34: Quantifying the Placemaking Effect with Benjamin Calnin & Nigel Griswold Aug 31, 2021

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In this episode, Dynamo Metrics’ co-founders discuss the findings and implications from Dynamo’s recently released report and software developed for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Quantifying the Placemaking Effect.
This study provides a first-of-its kind evaluation of place-based investment impact and explores how the Michigan Economic Development Corporation created a 3% increase in occupancy and over $1 billion in residential property value from continued place-based investments in Michigan communities.
About Benjamin Calnin & Nigel Griswold
Ben and Nigel have worked with local, state, and federal government as independent and academic researchers for nearly two decades.
Their background in placemaking research began in the mid-2000s at Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute, where we studied the economic potential of implementing placemaking strategies across Michigan and designed programs and policies stemming from this work.
Their research was used to prove the impact of Midwest demolition and rehabilitation programs to the United States Treasury, resulting in the release of $2 billion in additional Hardest Hit Fund resources.

Episode 33: Colin Tarbert Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

This episode covers how Baltimore Development Corporation is addressing systemic racism and disinvestment by focusing social equity and inclusion practices at the center of their formal economic development plans through Baltimore Together.
About Colin Tarbert
Colin Tarbert is the President and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), which serves as the economic development agency for Baltimore City. It is responsible for growing the city by retaining and attracting businesses, expanding job opportunities for city residents, and increasing investment in city neighborhoods.

Prior to his BDC appointment, Tarbert served in various leadership roles for nearly a decade at the Mayor’s Office of Baltimore City during three administrations, including the roles of Deputy Chief of Strategic Alliances and Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development.

In addition, Tarbert is active on numerous civic and non-profit boards, including chair of the Baltimore Hotel Corporation, chair of the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation and a member of the boards of the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund and East Baltimore Development Inc. In 2013, Tarbert was named as a 40 under 40 honoree by the Baltimore Business Journal.

Previous to the role of President & CEO and his tenure in the Mayor’s Office, Tarbert was a Senior Economic Development Officer for the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC). He graduated with a B.S. in Architecture, summa cum laude, from the University of Maryland, where he subsequently earned his Master of Architecture degree.

A native of the Baltimore area, Tarbert lives in Baltimore City with his wife, Bonnie, their daughter and Westie.

Episode 32: Christine Mackay Aug 17, 2021

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This episode covers workforce development in one of the nation’s fastest growing cities and building permanent infrastructure solutions to solve the digital divide.
About Christine Mackay
Phoenix Community and Economic Development director, Christine Mackay, has served the people of Phoenix since August 2014. She is responsible for leading and fostering an environment where businesses can create and retain jobs, make capital investment and reinvestment in the community, and connect our workforce to employers and training opportunities. During Mackay’s tenure with the City of Phoenix, the department has facilitated the creation of over 75,000 high-value jobs, seen the average wage of those jobs increase from over $30,000 in 2014 to more than $70,000 in 2019, and closed deals with more than $20 billion in capital investment.

Christine leads a department of over 55 full time staff that encompasses the full spectrum of economic development areas including: business attraction, business retention and expansion, community development, international relations, Sister Cities, the Phoenix Business and Workforce Development Board, administration, research, marketing and the City-owned Phoenix Arena and the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.

In 2021, Christine was named as one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in the Country by Consultant Connect. She is a two-time honoree as "Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community" by the Arizona Association for Economic Development. Mackay was recognized as "Leader of the Year in Economic Development–Public Policy" by the Arizona Capitol Times, and "Industry Leader of the Year – Economic Development" by Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine. She has also been on the list of the Phoenix Business Journal’s "50 Most Influential Women in Arizona."

She is a member of the Economic Development Director's Team for Greater Phoenix, Maricopa Association of Government's Building a Quality Regional Community committee, Flinn Foundation Biosciences Roadmap committee, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), Commercial Office Real Estate Executives (CoreNet), the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED), and the Arizona Business Incubator Association.

Christine has nearly 25 years’ experience in economic development overlapping 30 years of commercial real estate experience. Mackay has spent both her personal and professional life here in the Valley.

Episode 31: Santiago Garces Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

This episode covers creating urban amenities to attract and retain workers, strategies for building resiliency in the face of COVID-19, and how combining departments and leveraging community engagement leads to innovative initiatives.
About Santiago Garces
Santiago Garces is the Executive Director of the Department of Community Investment in South Bend, Indiana. Mr. Garces is responsible for economic development, sustainability, workforce development, planning, permits and licenses, housing programs, and code enforcement. Mr. Garces’s portfolio includes roughly $50 million of investments through tax incremental financing and revolving loan programs. Leading the City’s economic response and recovery efforts from COVID-19, he led the creation of an Innovation Grants for Restaurants that provided over 50% of restaurants in the City with low barrier grants to address unexpected investment and novel strategies to improve operations during the pandemic.
Prior to this position, Mr. Garces was the CIO and Director of Innovation and Performance in Pittsburgh, and before that the CIO of the City of South Bend. Mr. Garces holds degrees in Electrical Engineering, and Political Science, and a master’s degree in technology entrepreneurship from the University of Notre Dame.

Episode 30: Ryan Smith Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

This episode covers how the City of Las Vegas is cultivating an entrepreneurial ecosystem, attracting remote talent, and leveraging data through their Community Development Dashboard and Small Business Research Portal.
About Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith is the Acting Director of Economic and Urban Development at the City of Las Vegas. Ryan is responsible for business attraction, expansion and retention and redevelopment within the city. Ryan is the co-lead for the City of Las Vegas’s Innovation platform and initiatives. Prior to joining the City of Las Vegas Ryan served as the Director of Business Planning and Analysis at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Ryan played an instrumental role in administering the Department’s incentive and grant programs. Additionally he helped land over 100 companies and over $5.5 billion in new capital investments.

Prior to his positions in the public sector, Ryan served multiple roles in both the gaming and logistics industries. Ryan received a degree in Supply Chain Management from Michigan State University.

Episode 29: Janet Jenkins Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

This episode covers how the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) collaborate to improve buses citywide through the Better Buses Action Plan, how COVID-19 has affected transportation needs, and the importance of data for strategic transportation initiatives
About Janet Jenkins
Janet is the Assistant Commissioner for Transit Development at New York City’s Department of Transportation and an American Institute Certified Planner. She has spent 25 years working at the intersection of transportation, urban design, and city planning for public agencies as well as in private consulting practice. Throughout her career she has endeavored to improve quality of life by helping people travel through their environment with greater comfort, increased safety, and multiple alternatives to private cars.

In her current role, Janet leads all New York City transit-related street design through the implementation of bus priority projects like bus lanes and busways. These include the 14th Street Busway, Select Bus Service, and the Better Buses Action Plan, which seeks to improve bus speeds by 25% and reverse the decline of bus ridership in NYC. In addition, she oversees many transit policy and planning initiatives, including transit signal priority, real time bus information, and bus stop accessibility.

Janet previously served in roles at MTA New York City Transit, MTA Metro-North Railroad, and, as a consultant, helped create the Select Bus Service BRT system in NYC that she now leads at NYC DOT. Janet is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Occidental College.

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