Improving Worcester’s Competitiveness for Attracting Business
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
“It’s a good group”, said Roberta Schaefer, President & CEO of The Research Bureau, of the speaker line-up assembled. “Given the panel for this program, I would expect to have a very informative discussion regarding how we can attract more development in Worcester.”
The event is set to feature four regional leaders in their field, on Massachusetts and Worcester business, real estate, and entrepreneurship development.
Each speaker’s presentation will be followed by a discussion period open for Q&A. The public is encouraged to learn what’s being done in their city and state, and engage the leaders in thoughtful discussion and debate.
The event will be moderated by Timothy McGourthy, Chief Development Officer of the City of Worcester. McGourthy will lead the forum by discussing new projects currently underway in Worcester, including information on the new City Square and Theater District development projects.
Speakers Slated to Share Expertise and Advice
Mark Rice, Ph.D.
Rice, dean of the School of Business at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, will talk about small business development and entrepreneurship in Worcester.
Rice will also speak about his recent publication, University-Based Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Global Practices, as well as his research and work developing a virtual business incubator--the Tech Advisers Network--at WPI, a tech advising network of serial entrepreneur friends and alumni, helping start-ups and freshly formed ventures get up and running.
Before WPI Rice was appointed the Frederic C. Hamilton Professor for Free Enterprise andserved as the Murata Dean of the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business and at Babson College. Rice has been the director of RPI Incubator Program, the co-founder and director of the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the chairman of the National Business Incubation Association, and has authored several books including, Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts.
David Begelfer
Begelfer, Chief Executive Officer of NAIOP Massachusett, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, will be speaking about property and real estate investment in Massachusetts.
Begelfer, a graduate of Clark University, is a Massachusetts registered lobbyist, board member of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs, serves on many state regulatory and policy advisory committees, and is on the Advisory Board of the Pioneer Institute’s Center for Economic Opportunity. Previously, Begelfer was the president of The Iver Company.
Daniel O’Connell
O’Connell, the President & CEO of Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, a nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy group of the state’s top CEOs encouraging job growth andcompetitiveness in Massachusetts, will speak about the group’s different business investments and recruitment ideas around the state.
With his finger on the pulse of Massachusetts business, O’Connell will speak about what’s new on the MA business scene.
Previously, O’Connell has spent time as the Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, an Executive Vice President and Partner in the Development and Advisory Services Group of Meredith & Grew, a commercial real estate firm, and Principal in the Development Services Group at Spaulding & Slye Colliers.
The forum will take place this Thursday, May 23, from 7:45 am-9:15 am, at Higgins House on WPI campus, Worcester. Free. Visitor parking available in Park Avenue covered garage. Contact the Bureau to download parking pass. For more information click here.
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