In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson sits down with John Loyack of the North Carolina Community College System to unpack what “workforce development” looks like when you’re the person who gets the call the day after the ribbon cutting asking where the next 500–5,000 workers will come from—and how North Carolina answers that question through four major tools: NC Edge customized training, ApprenticeshipNC, the Bio Network (now stretching from life sciences into food/beverage and natural products), and a small business center network embedded across 58 community colleges, all while pushing for tighter collaboration so employers experience one connected system instead of disconnected silos.

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Special Guest: John Loyack.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• NCEdge | NC Community Colleges - NCCCS
• John C. Loyack | LinkedIn
• N.C. Community College System Reports Strong Year for Flagship NCEdge Customized Training Program
• Exclusive | Aerospace Startup JetZero to Start Building Futuristic Planes in North Carolina - WSJ
• How community colleges are fueling N.C.’s workforce, with John Loyack

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Timothy Comerford of Biggins Lacey & Shapiro about the rapidly shifting reality of power availability in site selection.

Tim explains how explosive demand from data centers and industrial users is overwhelming electric utilities, reshaping incentive policy, and lengthening timelines for securing capacity. He breaks down the biggest misconceptions around power lead times, why transmission is often the bottleneck, how utilities are adapting with costly engineering studies and take-or-pay requirements, and what steps EDOs must take to credibly position their sites.

This is a masterclass on the new electricity-driven geography of economic development.

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Special Guest: Timothy Comeford.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Market Update: The Growing Demand for Data Centers
• Tim Comerford | LinkedIn
• Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co.
• Timothy R. Comerford | BLS & Co.

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, President and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC, about how Colorado Springs is uniting its region to compete globally, building on its deep aerospace, defense, and cybersecurity assets, and expanding advanced manufacturing powered by a steady military-to-civilian talent pipeline.

She explains the origin of the Colorado Aerospace and Defense Economic Council, the importance of advocacy for small and mid-sized contractors, how site selection really plays out in a mountain market, and why economic development still matters most at the level of individual opportunity.

From cluster strategy to workforce realities to the joy of cutting a ribbon on a transformational project, Johnna offers insight from a 30-year career building thriving communities.

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Special Guest: Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer | LinkedIn
• Business in Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC
• One CEO’s Plan To Help Revive Southern Colorado’s Business Development - YouTube
• Long-Term Vision with Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer - A Podcast for Chamber Professionals
• Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer Of Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC On The Exciting Developments In US High Tech Manufacturing | by David Leichner | Authority Magazine | Medium
• Colorado Springs leaders in D.C. to lobby for local interests and look for opportunities
• Interview: Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer on Local Business and Economic Growth - Springsmag Colorado Springs
• Clean & Safe Pilot Program - Downtown Partnership
• So. Colorado Business Digest & CSBJ || AUGUST || 2025 by Colorado Media Group :: NORTH, The Digest/CSBJ & So. Colorado Insider! - Issuu

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with economic development veteran and consultant Marty Vanags about Circles of Seven, a peer-based mentoring program designed to strengthen post-startup small businesses who often fall through the cracks of traditional support systems.

Marty explains how C7 groups work, why small businesses learn best from each other, and how these circles create long-lasting bonds that improve BRE, build confidence, and ultimately make communities more attractive to prospects. He also touches on Next Wave Leadership, the importance of in-person connection, and why economic developers should spend more time nurturing the businesses they already have.

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Special Guest: Martin Vanags.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Martin Karl Vanags | LinkedIn
• MartinKarl Consulting
• Circles Of Seven™ – The Science of Business Mentoring
• Next Wave Leadership
• The JustBe Newsletter
• Hometown Consulting

On this special crossover episode, Dane Carlson joins Joe Barker on the Rural Strong Podcast to talk about Sitehunt, entrepreneurship, and the power of AI to help rural and small-community economic developers compete at scale.

In this episode of Rural Strong, Joe and Dane explore how AI tools like Sitehunt automate site analysis, RFI responses, and data collection — giving small EDOs the same analytical firepower as their big-city counterparts. Dane shares his unlikely journey from early-2000s internet entrepreneur to chamber president in the Sierra Nevada foothills to Texas economic-development director to startup CEO. They discuss why feedback matters more than features, why execution beats ideas every time, and why even the smallest communities need a modern website, a plan, and the willingness to pivot.

Dane also unpacks how child care, housing, and workforce shortages have become the new pillars of competitiveness, why AI is best thought of as a “dim-witted but persistent intern,” and how rural leaders can use technology to take back the information advantage from site selectors.

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Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• RuralStrong - YouTube
• Dane Carlson | LinkedIn
• Sitehunt
• Joe Barker | LinkedIn

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Candi Clouse from IMPLAN joins Dane Carlson to unpack how the fifty-year-old economic-impact platform grew from a U.S. Forest Service project into the industry’s gold standard for analyzing how local and regional economies respond to change. She explains the basics of input-output modeling, how opening a single manufacturing plant can affect hundreds of related industries and household spending, and describes how IMPLAN empowers users to measure those effects in real time.

Candi also shares her personal journey from psychology to economic development, the surprising ripple effects of Ohio’s motion-picture tax credit, and how IMPLAN’s data helps states compare investments, balance urban-rural needs, and plan for reshoring and supply-chain shifts.

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Special Guest: Candi Clouse.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Candi Clouse, Ph.D. | LinkedIn
• IMPLAN | Economic Impact Analysis Software
• IMPLAN - Support

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson shares his talk from the Utility Economic Development Association’s 2025 Fall Forum in Traverse City, Michigan. He explains how artificial intelligence is transforming economic development from a guessing game into a data-driven discipline. Drawing from his work with Sitehunt, Dane reveals how utilities can turn raw infrastructure data like power, water, sewer, and fiber into actionable intelligence that accelerates projects, shortens RFI responses, and drives smarter investment decisions. He challenges listeners to stop optimizing for Google and start optimizing for AI, showing how even small steps like making one dataset machine readable can reshape how regions grow and compete.

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Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Utility Economic Development Association | Utility Economic Development Association
• UEDA 2025 Fall Forum | Utility Economic Development Association on Glue Up
• AI for Utilities: The Future of Economic Development and Site Selection - YouTube
• Dane Carlson | LinkedIn
• Sitehunt

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Joe Rudemiller, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), about how the organization helped turn Over-the-Rhine from a crime-ridden, disinvested neighborhood into one of America’s most celebrated urban communities.

Joe shares how strategic partnerships with the corporate sector, catalytic public spaces, historic preservation, and mission-driven development created a vibrant, mixed-income district filled with local businesses and active civic life.

He also discusses how programming, special improvement districts, and community initiatives like GeneroCity 513 and fair-chance hiring continue to strengthen the fabric of downtown Cincinnati — and what lessons other cities can apply to their own revitalization efforts.

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Special Guest: Joe Rudemiller.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Joe Rudemiller | LinkedIn
• 3CDC: Overview | LinkedIn
• 3CDC
• 3CDC | Instagram
• What's next for 3CDC? These projects could reshape Cincinnati (again)
• How Cincinnati Salvaged the Nation’s Most Dangerous Neighborhood - POLITICO Magazine
• How 3CDC became a vital redevelopment force
• What is 3CDC in Cincinnati? Where does 3CDC get its money?
• OTR North: $100 million project lands Cincinnati City Council funds - Cincinnati Business Courier — Massive $100M 'OTR North' project secures first-phase financing
• Over-The-Rhine: Is this a model for urban renewal or a warning sign?
• Cincinnati company Paycor moving into Downtown's old Saks building
• 3CDC unveils proposals for new convention hotel
• Cincinnati's Foundry bld. brings upscale offices near Downtown square
• Look inside Music Hall after its $143 million, 16-month renovation

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Kat Guillaume-Delemar, President and CEO of the Center for Community Progress, the nation’s only nonprofit dedicated to fixing the systems that lead to widespread vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties. Kat shares how systemic vacancy harms communities — from lowering property values and public health to blocking economic opportunity — and explains how policy reform, land banking, and innovative programs can restore vitality and equity to disinvested neighborhoods. Drawing from her deeply personal journey from poverty and trauma to leadership and advocacy, Kat offers inspiring insights and actionable strategies for economic developers seeking to build stronger, more human-centered communities.

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Special Guest: Kathleen Guillaume-Delemar.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Kat J. Guillaume- Delemar | LinkedIn
• Center for Community Progress
• Center for Community Progress: Overview | LinkedIn
• Center for Community Progress - YouTube
• Center for Community Progress | Instagram
• Center for Community Progress | Facebook

In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson sits down with Molly Howey, CEO of the Greater Topeka Partnership, to discuss how Topeka is redefining what is possible for mid-sized U.S. cities.

Molly shares how uniting economic development, downtown revitalization, tourism, and the chamber under one strategic umbrella helped the city align its vision and accelerate growth. From transforming a once-quiet airfield into a future industrial hub, to building momentum in the Animal Health Corridor and nurturing homegrown startups, Molly reveals the creative thinking and community grit driving Topeka forward.

Her story offers powerful lessons for any economic developer aiming to build sustainable, people-centered progress in their community.

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Special Guest: Molly Howey.

Sponsored By:

• Sitehunt: Sitehunt is an AI-enhanced platform that helps economic developers build a comprehensive property database, enabling informed decisions and efficient RFI responses to accelerate site selection and project success.

Links:

• Molly Howey, CEcD | LinkedIn
• Greater Topeka Partnership: Overview | LinkedIn
• Greater Topeka Partnership | Instagram