Whittaker Report
Blog & Podcast
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, Now More Than Ever!
“Teamwork makes the dream work.” It is such a simple statement, yet it evokes ambition, hope and positivity. It is such a wonderful feeling to work in an environment that promotes teamwork. From the outside, it is easy to spot a workplace where employees are happy and...
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 MoSCoW Approach = Prioritizing for the Future
By Leigh Howe MoSCoW is a process for planning and prioritizing a large project. This dynamic planning method got its start in the Software and IT industry to meet the need of developing systems quickly. It was originally called “Rapid Application Development”. ...
What is Open Source Software?
by Josh Morse Linux. Firefox. MySQL. Even casual computer users are familiar with some of these programs. Yet the open source licenses under which all three are released are often mysterious to even the most computer-savvy person. Today I hope to help clear up some...
Flattening Our Assumptions
by Dean Whittaker In the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know?" many of today's common beliefs are challenged through ideas from quantum physics. The movie points out that many of humankind's firmly held beliefs were later found to be wrong. But at least one of those...
Data Standardization for Site Selection
By Jeff Finkle A Task Force for Data Standardization. Since 1996, the Site Selection Data Task Force has worked to develop a set of data standards to assist economic development professionals in their communication with site selections consultants and others...
Top Twenty-Five Industries by Annual Mean Salary
by Pete Julius The table below includes the industries that have the 25 top annual mean paying jobs. It is no surprise to see the top of the list dominated by technology-related industries. More importantly, these are the types of industries that are staying here in...
2002 New and Expanded Facility Announcements
By Jeff Vedders A total of 6,645 new and expanded facility announcements were made in 2002 in the U.S. This compares with 9,679 announcements in 2001 and 11,602 announcements in 2000. There was a 31% drop in activity from 2001 to 2002, and a 43% drop in activity...
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Latest
Advantages of Co-Working Spaces
By Saurav Rajbhandari Workspace trends have changed in recent times with smaller businesses and startups choosing to share space with other companies. Co-working provides opportunities to network with people from other companies, as well as many other benefits,...
Service Failure and Service Recovery
By Sambridhi Shrestha Today businesses all over the world use social media to grow and improve their services. When Samsung's Galaxy Note smartphones caught fire, they explained the problem on all social platforms. They apologized, and they replaced the phones. When...
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