Economic Development Training Course: Marketing & Attraction

Date: March 1-2, 2012
Location: Phoenix, AZ

This hands-on course will review the fundamentals of developing and implementing a high-impact marketing and attraction plan. Businesses looking to locate or expand need accurate, up-to-date, and credible information and communities need rock-solid marketing techniques to reach the needs of the business community. Course participants will be able to learn how to craft their community’s message by learning about online marketing fundamentals, GIS technologies, website design, and current trends in site selection. Participants will also explore various mediums of communication, including how to best utilize social media and Web 2.0 technologies as an economic development marketing tool. Case studies and sample plans will highlight the dos and don’ts of economic development marketing and attraction.

Course Highlights:

• Site selection fundamentals including corporate strategies
• Identifying target audiences using data-driven techniques
• Developing a community marketing plan and brand
• Garnering internal and external support for the marketing campaign
• Engaging social media and website design to target new markets
• Utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to serve clients
• Benchmarking, evaluating, and monitoring the marketing plan

Sign up for IEDC’s Marketing & Attraction Course

Atlas Instructor/Presenter Bio:

Ben Wright, Atlas Advertising CEO

Ben Wright is one of the foremost experts in economic development marketing, with over 18 years of experience, working primarily in North America. In the ten years since he started U.S. based Atlas Advertising, the company has grown to serve nearly 80 different economic development clients, in 40+ states and 6 countries.

Ben started his career in economic development as the Chief Economist for the Metro Denver EDC, in Colorado in the early 1990s. He brings a wealth of branding, digital marketing, and GIS into every client interaction. Ben helps clients develop and execute innovative marketing strategies, and is a frequent speaker with the International Economic Development Council, Georgia Tech Innovation Institute, and various state and regional economic development conferences.Having worked all over North America, Ben understands how economic development agencies must compete in a global marketplace. He applies this passion for places and knowledge of people into Atlas Advertising’s very core, and, thus, into every project.

Ben is a graduate of Stanford University in California with a degree in economics, with emphasis on urban studies. Ben lives in Denver, CO with his wife and three adventurous daughters.

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