Recently, Erron Smith, CERC’s Associate Director of Business Development sat down with Alissa DeJonge, Vice President of Research, to chat about a recent conference he attended - the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) Professional Forum. Held in Milwaukee, the forum brought together economic developers, service providers, and end users (companies). As a first time visitor to Milwaukee, Erron was impressed with the city’s efforts to transform the historical industrial economy and strategically utilize the existing assets, and how Connecticut, with its similar post industrial challenges, can benefit by learning from cities like Milwaukee.

Wanting to capitalize on the “airtime” with the other forum attendees, Erron was impressed with how the organizers structured the agenda to allow each audience member - economic developers, service providers, and end users - to engage with one another and build on relationships, including the discussions on technology automation and its effect on the workforce, and how this is leading the site location decision for both domestic and international companies looking to (re)locate.

Listen as Erron and Alissa discuss the forum experience, site section considerations, the importance of networking, and Erron’s first time axe throwing!