DCI 40 Under 40
2023 Economic Development 40 Under 40 Awards
Congratulations to the Economic Development 40 Under 40 Class of 2023! This biennial awards ceremony, co-hosted by Development Counsellors International and Jorgenson Consulting, honors and recognizes economic development’s top 40 individuals under 40 years of age who demonstrate strong leadership, commitment and innovation every day in the workplace. This year’s winners uplift diverse voices and perspectives and have utilized their skillset to build inclusive, forward-thinking communities as the economic development industry navigated the challenges of the last few years.
Our winners were celebrated on January 29, 2023 at the International Economic Development Council Leadership Summit in Tucson, Ariz. Nominations for the 2025 Economic Development 40 Under 40 Awards will open in the fall of 2024.
If you have any questions or concerns, additional answers are provided in the FAQs tab.
Arthur Jackson
Senior Vice President, Tulsa Regional Chamber
Arthur Jackson is Senior Vice President of Economic Development. Arthur leads the Chamber’s economic development efforts through Tulsa’s Future, the Chamber-led public-private regional economic development partnership, in addition to workforce and talent strategies.
Upon joining the Tulsa Regional Chamber in 2021 Arthur successfully restructured the team to have clear and defined roles which helped the Tulsa’s Future team focus on specific economic development initiatives that led to the announcement of over 3,500 jobs in the Tulsa region, including EV manufacturing company, Canoo.
Prior to joining the Tulsa Regional Chamber, Arthur served as Senior Director of Economic Development for over five years at the Austin Chamber of Commerce, by way of Opportunity Austin, also a regional economic development group. Arthur led the BRE program for the first 2 years there while also working with companies to relocate before transitioning solely to support business attraction activities. He marketed Austin to potential companies and during his tenure, worked to attract names like Tesla, Merck, PIMCO and Apple to name some. Arthur also led the life sciences industry growth and helped put Austin on the CBRE list as a top emerging hub for companies and talent working in life sciences.
Arthur was internationally recognized in 2021 for his contributions to economic development by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and Development Counsellors International (DCI) as a top 40 economic developer under 40 across the globe. Other economic development awards include a 3-time MAC Conway Award winner (Site Selection Magazine’s top economic development organization award), 2020 Deal of the Year Gold Award (Awarded by Business Facilities publication for the Tesla Terafactory plant in Austin) and has most recently led the Tulsa Regional Chamber and the Tulsa’s Future team to the 2021 EDO of the Year Bronze Award (IEDC)
Arthur received his BBA in Marketing and an Executive MBA from Prairie View A&M University.
Jay Gentry
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Lightcast
Jay has more than 30 years of experience gained from working in global business development, workforce development strategy, marketing, product strategy and development, government relations, start-ups, joint venture formation/leadership, EdTech, and general management.
Most recently Mr. Gentry collaborated with leadership at the Drucker Institute to conceive and develop the “Bendable Job Readiness Room, Powered by Lightcast”. The Job Readiness Room is an innovative community talent strategy that connects local job seekers and employers through a skills-based platform housed by public libraries. The Lightcast Skills Taxonomy provides the context for targeted training and job placement, matching the skills/interests of job seekers with the needs of employers.
Jay has enjoyed working with leaders at the International Economic Development Council during 2021-2022 to launch the IEDC “Playbook for Equitable Economic Development” project, utilizing labor market data resources that allow communities to track and measure their efforts to create equitable economic development.
Mr. Gentry appreciates deeply his current opportunities serving multiple organizations as a strategic advisor/board member, continually learning while doing his best to provide useful insight and leadership.
Jay loves travel, geography, history, and cross-cultural studies, including – whenever he gets a chance – working on a historical novel set in late 16th century China.
Lightcast provides clear, actionable labor market insights to businesses, learning providers, and communities. Our mission within the “Community” team at Lightcast is to provide data insights that drive economic prosperity for every individual in every community.
One piece of advice to rising stars in the economic development industry:
Look at every EcDev opportunity through the “Talent” lens:
- Engagement of local talent
- Augmentation of local talent
Joe Snell
President & CEO, Sun Corridor Inc.
As the first President & CEO of Sun Corridor Inc., Joe Snell brings over 35 years of experience leading regional private economic development organizations in communities of various sizes. His knowledge on building strategic, competitive, and balanced economic development efforts have resulted in Snell being nationally recognized for creating strong economies.
Sun Corridor Inc. is a transformative economic development organization representing Southern Arizona. Under Snell’s leadership, Sun Corridor Inc. has helped facilitate significant investment and job creation resulting in an economic impact of $25 billion to the regional economy. In 2015, Snell led the re-engineering of the organization resulting in a name change, new brand and expanded mission.
In his previous position as President of the Metro Denver Network, Snell developed critical infrastructure and strategies that resulted in Metro Denver being recognized as one of the fastest growing markets in the United States. Snell has established new economic development corporations and reengineered struggling organizations in several communities in the Southwest and Midwest.
Snell is a frequently requested speaker and lecturer on economic development and competitive issues. He is a former faculty member of the Arizona Economic Development Course and the International Economic Development Council. Snell is a regular contributor to various international and national media publications.
In 2019, Snell received the Global Visionary Award from BizTucson Magazine. Snell was named Father of the Year by the Father’s Day Council Tucson in 2019. In 2017 and 2018, Snell was recognized by Arizona Business Magazine for his leadership and contributions to the Arizona economy. The Arizona Economic Development Association has recognized Snell for “Deal of the Year” on two occasions in the last five years.
On March 28, 2002, Governor Bill Owens of Colorado honored Snell by proclaiming the day as Joe Snell Day throughout the state. Snell was named as Economic Developer of the Year in 1999 by the Economic Developers Association of Colorado.
John Rocca
Managing Director, JLL Consulting
John leads the Consulting practice for JLL in the Western U.S. and is an expert in performing location strategy, economic incentive negotiation, and portfolio strategy services. He helps clients with new business expansion, relocation, and deployment of capital investment. Headquartered in Chicago, JLL is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. JLL is a member of the Fortune 500.
Prior to joining JLL in July 2015, John was with CBRE for 13 years in its Consulting practice. Prior to this, Mr. Rocca held a position with Deloitte for four years performing corporate real estate advisory services, location strategy, and economic incentive negotiations for corporate clients. He also served as a senior associate at KMG Consulting, a Los Angeles-based boutique real estate and urban economics consulting firm, providing real estate economic analyses and financial consulting services for investors, developers, public and private sector clients.
John holds a Master of Arts, Urban and Regional Planning, from the University of Southern California. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, from the University of California at Los Angeles. Within CoreNet Global, John holds as Masters of Corporate Real Estate (MCR). He is also a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in the State of California.
Kim Moore
Executive Managing Director, Newmark
Kim L. Moore joined Newmark in 2014 as a part of the firm’s Global Strategy and Consulting Team, a practice within the firm’s Global Corporate Services (GCS). Kim leads the Economic Incentives Advisory and the Economic Development Consulting Services practices. With a diverse background in economic development, incentive negotiation, site selection and strategic planning, Kim leads marketing efforts and strategic planning for both the private and public sectors. Kim is based in Dallas.
Kim has managed multiple projects securing almost 11.2M SF of new and redeveloped space, increasing the tax base with committed investments of more than $1.5 billion, creating over 19,900 new jobs and negotiating over $5.2 billion in incentives.
Kim has developed economic development strategic plans, target industry studies and labor surveys for communities, counties and utilities in California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee and Texas. She is often a featured speaker/panelist at multiple economic development and site selection focused conferences.
One piece of advice to rising stars in the economic development industry:
Always continue learning. Know your local industries as well as they know themselves and study your emerging industries with vigor. You will be able to recognize trends and act on the good and bad. You will also be able to speak to them in a language they know and understand. It is a great way to retain what you have and grow new opportunities.
Bethany Miller
Certified Economic Developer, Amazon
Bethany J. Miller, CEcD, joined Amazon’s Public Policy America’s team in 2021 to work on economic development, focusing on the rollout of brick-and-mortar retail concepts across the country.
Prior to joining Amazon, Bethany led domestic marketing and attraction efforts for the Greater Houston Partnership, which includes the most diverse and fourth largest city in the nation, and the Greater Richmond Partnership in Virginia. Bethany has also worked on issues of business retention and expansion at the local level, and incentive administration at the state level.
A member of IEDC’s Board of Directors, Bethany also serves on the Council’s Racism & Economic Development Committee. She previously served on IEDC’s Higher Education Committee and as Vice Chair and Chair of the Membership Development Advisory Committee.
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio (Go Bucks!), Bethany now lives in Virginia where she enjoys eating, exercising, and spending time with her fiancé and two boxer dogs.
One piece of advice to rising stars in economic development:
My one piece of advice would be to not fear the move! There are so many opportunities to grow professionally in economic development, and exploring those options is one of the keys to finding happy success. Don’t fear the move out of town or state – or the jump from public to private service. Share your passion for community however and wherever you can and pick up all the nuggets (good or bad) along the way, then use them to enhance your work. Don’t be afraid to share what you know and (to borrow from Amazon), “learn and be curious”.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Economic Development 40 Under 40 is a list of 40 individuals who have achieved success in economic development before turning 40 years old. The 2023 awards are co-hosted by Jorgenson Consulting and Development Counsellors International.
Candidates must be under the age of 40 as of January 1, 2023.
Of course! As long as they are still under the age of 40 as of January 1, 2023.
Nominations must be filled in completely and submitted by midnight October 19, 2022.
Absolutely! A nominee can either self-nominate (and we encourage this!) or be nominated by a third party.
Fill out and submit the nomination form by October 19, 2022.
We’re looking for young leaders who have raised the bar in economic development: those who have brought innovation, creativity, high standards, strong character and a track record of success to their community and the profession. Candidates must be under the age of 40 as of January 1, 2023. For this particular award, service providers to the economic development industry are not eligible.
No. Judges will not know who nominated who, they will just see the name of the nominee.
No, however, the nominee must hold a career within the economic development industry.
Having this accreditation may give the nominee a boost, but it’s completely up to each judge on how they’ll rate or grade each entry.
Email the name and contact information directly to Nick Reshan at [email protected]. We’ll be sure to follow up with each person directly letting them know that someone thought they would be a good fit for the award.
Winners, and all others who submitted an application, will be notified of the status of their nomination in December 2022.
DCI will officially announce and recognize winners during the International Economic Development Council’s Leadership Summit in Tucson on January 29-31.
No. We release the award every two years.
Our selection committee represents a broad mix of representatives from the economic development industry including recruiters, economic developers and site selectors. For more information on the individuals on the 2023 panel, visit the Selection Committee tab.
After we receive the nominations, the selection committee will independently review and rank each nominee. We will compile all rankings and use an averaging system to determine the top 40.
Candidates who are selected are required to send us a photo to include on the website, as well as complete a quick questionnaire. In addition, we’d love them to attend a special recognition dinner during IEDC’s Leadership Summit should the event take place in person.
Quantify impact. The most successful nominations integrate metrics to demonstrate the nominee’s impact on their community and the industry.