Leading Conference Sessions
Complementing the meetings between site selectors and economic developers, LiveXchange Executive Conference sessions delved into global events, trends, and economic conditions. The opening Keynote on the 2022 Economic Outlook was presented by Dr. Lindsey Piegza, Ph.D., Chief Economist for Stifel Financial. She spoke about the impact of the pandemic and international events, and what it meant for overall growth, interest rates, and monetary policy. Piegza’s presentation of these timely topics elicited a flurry of questions for the speaker, as well as conversation between attendees.
Recognizing that the pandemic has most likely permanently changed the way workers evaluate who they will work for—and where they will live, the program also included a talk about The Impact of Work from Home on Incentives. Presented by Allea Newbold, Principal for Ryan, this General Session on day two of LiveXchange examined the shift to work-from-home and remote workforce. With a comprehensive look at current and developing incentives across the U.S., Newbold shared insights into how corporate site selectors might factor this into their relocation and expansion decisions.
Richard T. Ward, CEcD, group director, business development for Louisiana Economic Development, an event sponsor, observed, “The latest review in remote worker incentives by Allea was a valuable takeaway. Meanwhile, we were impressed with the breadth of scope among the projects we discovered in our one-on-one meetings.
An Ask The Consultants Panel Discussion provided the opportunity to pose their site selection questions to several experts in the industry. Moderated by Angelos Angelou, Founder & Principal Executive Officer, AngelouEconomics in Austin, TX, the panel featured: Barry Albrecht, CEO, Strategic Location Services; John Boyd, Jr., Principal, The Boyd Company; Chris Steele, Principal, Economic Development, EPB-US; and Bob Westover, Senior Vice President, Colliers.
In a broadly sweeping and thoughtful General Session on day one, Mark Williams, President of Strategic Development Group, shared his observations from his 30 years in site selection. Speaking on traditional and emerging markets (electric vehicles, for one), Williams remarked that in terms of site selection he’s not seen business as good as it is currently.