In Episode 21, Alia Abbas shares with us her experience as a first-time attendee at the Select USA Conference, an investment summit in Washington DC annually. It provides an opportunity for economic development organization to meet with potential international investors considering establishing business operations in the United States.
Alia Abbas has a Master of Arts degree in Geography specializing in Economic Development from York University with TMUs certification to boost her career prospects and be credible in her industry. Alia is also the Founder and CEO of Alia Consulting – Economic Development Firm based in Toronto. Her firm focuses on business continuity and economic recovery initiatives. She worked on investment attraction for companies based in U.S. She has worked on developing supply chain strategies for economic development organizations with her certification in Supply Chain and Logistics accredited by FEMA.
She is an award-winning economic developer. She is the recent recipient of the 2023 Economic Development 40 Under 40 Award, the biennial award recognizing rising stars under 40 years old in the economic development industry. In the past, Alia has won the EDCO 2021 – Bright Ideas Competition and received a trophy. The Bright Ideas Competition is an annual idea competition for economic development practitioners of all experience levels. Her team won for their report on “Performance Measurement” which was designed to assist economic development organizations in their economic recovery initiatives from COVID-19.