What does it really take to bring major businesses to a region, and who’s behind those decisions?  In this episode of Entrepreneurial Shades of Gray, hosts Dani Dials and Chelsey Sayasane sit down with Kayla Byrne, Director of Business Development at the Mobile Chamber, for an eye-opening conversation about what happens behind the scenes of economic growth along the Gulf Coast. Kayla breaks down her role in recruiting and vetting businesses and shares what people often don’t realize about the process of economic development. She explains how deals are built over time, why some projects take years to come together, and what goes into evaluating whether a business is the right fit for the region.

As the leader of the Chamber’s business development division, Kayla oversees everything from lead generation and site development to existing industry expansion and economic research - work that has helped create thousands of jobs and bring billions in investment to the Mobile area.