Whittaker Report
Blog & Podcast
2023: The Year Ahead and Beyond
This month I experienced a glimpse of the future of Artificial Intelligence when using ChatGPT’s OpenAI platform. The following article was written by a chatbot algorithm when I typed in the following instruction: “Write an article about social, technological,...
Recent Podcasts
The Whittaker Report Episode 31 An Interview with Vern Schultz
Dec 31, 2025 • 00:28:44
Vern Schultz, SIOR, has been active in Chicago-area commercial real estate for more than 35 years. He joined Colliers in 1977 and currently serves as an Executive Vice President in the Industrial Advisory Group, representing tenants and owners throughout the Chicago market. Since joining Colliers, Vern has completed more than…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 30 - An Interview with Ashley & Eric Canada of Blane Canada AI
Sep 11, 2025 • 00:35:30
Eric has been a pioneer in applying technology to economic development for over 30 years, and together with Ashley—who brings deep expertise in sales and marketing—they’ve transformed Blane Canada into a leader in AI and automation for business development. We’re going to talk about where economic development is headed, how…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 29 An Interview with Dennis Pruitt, Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce
Apr 29, 2025 • 00:33:16
Dennis Pruitt, SVP, is the Senior Vice President of Economic Development at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. He leads the Chamber’s business recruitment and expansion efforts, economic research, industry sector development, and destination retail initiatives. He also oversees the Greater Oklahoma City Partnership, a 10-county regional economic development alliance. With…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 28 - An Interview with Jen Wakefield, APR, President and CEO at Greater Richmond Partnership
Mar 12, 2025 • 00:27:24
Jennifer Wakefield. Jen is the President and CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership, where she’s been driving strategic growth and investment in the region since 2021. With over two decades of experience in economic development, marketing, and strategic planning, she’s led transformative projects in both Richmond and Orlando, boosting business…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 27 - An Interview with Barry Matherly, CEcD
Jan 29, 2025 • 00:20:52
In this episode, we hear from Barry Matherly, CEcD, President and CEO of Hickey Global, a full service economic development consulting firm. With over 28 years in economic development, Barry has been helping communities to prosper by creating opportunities for new investment and job growth. As a certified economic development…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 26 an Interview with Kate Engel, Executive Director of the Nebraska Innovation Campus
Apr 26, 2024 • 00:17:26
In this episode we hear from Kate Engel, Managing Director of the Nebraska Innovation Campus. Kate Engel. Kate is the interim executive director of the Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corporation owned by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Kate’s primary responsibility is to supervise NICDC staff, direct business operations…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 25 - An Interview with Dr. Donald T. Iannone.
Jan 14, 2024 • 00:35:49
In this episode we hear from Dr. Donald T. Iannone, a poet, author, philosopher, and professor of theology. Don shares with us his view of the future of Economic Development and trends impacting the profession. He discusses the longterm impace of COVID on our mind, body and spirit. Do has…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 24 An Interview with Mark James, CEcD, Utility Practice Lead, Hickey Global
Dec 14, 2023 • 00:37:11
In this episode, Mark James discusses the electric utility industry role in site selection, current trends within the industry, electrical capacity, supply chain issues and the need to dramatically invest in the expansion of the grid. Mark also shares with us the future of economic development as seen from his…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 23 - An Interview with Karl Dye, President/CEO of TRIDEC
Nov 24, 2023 • 00:28:59
In this episode, we have a conversation with Karl Dye, President/CEO of TRIDEC (Tri Cities Development Council) serving Benton and Franklin Counties in Washington State. Karl discusses the opportunities for economic development organizations in decarbonization, climate change, and the electric power shortage. He also describers where he sees the economic…
The Whittaker Report Podcast Episode 22 - An Interview with Lee Crume, President & CEO of BE NKY
Jul 20, 2023 • 00:19:11
Learn about BE NKY, a regional economic development organization and hear from Lee Crume, President & CEO of the organization as he describes the success they are having and his view of the changing nature of economic development.
Recent Posts
The Whittaker Team
By Jami Gibson During this season, when things seem to be winding down for the year, I always feel rejuvenated toward work and optimistic about the opportunities to come in the New Year. As I sit here reflecting on the past year of work, one thing really stands out to...
40-Year-Old Breaking News
By Patrick Cisler Forty years ago, a study was done at General Electric on their “Performance Appraisal System” to measure the benefits of managers’ praise and criticism towards employees. GE had incorporated this performance management system based on a commonly held...
Making Friends Before Making Customers
By Anu Tandukar I remember the first time I walked into the clothing store that is approximately five minutes away from my office. The young sales lady seemed extremely friendly as she was beginning to explain to me about her recent visit to Thailand. Soon I found out...
The Joy of Learning
By Dean Whittaker One of my greatest joys is learning. Perhaps, it is yours too. If you’ve been reading our newsletter for awhile, you know its intent is to share with you what I and my other teammates at Whittaker Associates have learned that month. Hopefully, our...
About Learning ANYTHING
By Dean Whittaker One of the book recommendations this month is The 4-Hour Chef: Learning Anything by Timothy Ferriss. In his book, the author shares the joy of learning and describes a process of deconstructing anything we wish to learn into its basic components by...
End of the Year Clean Up
By Dean Whittaker The end of the year is a good time to clean out our closets or delete old files. With this in mind, we would like to clean up our newsletter mailing list. We spend a great deal of time and effort each month to create, edit, and publish the...
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Latest
Threat or Opportunity? A dilemma for Humankind.
By Sambridhi Shrestha We live in an era when the advancement in technology is racing to create something more progressive than what has been created. The new innovation outcasts existing technology with an upgraded version. If we look back, all these innovations and...
June 2020 Wonderings
By Dean Whittaker With over four decades of experience in economic development, I am hard pressed to see a clear path forward for the clients we serve. Economic development organizations are struggling to re-start their local economies after having been shut down for...
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