(Affiliated Consultant) - Economic Development Strategy  

Tom Ticknor is an independent consultant affiliated with EDR Group, representing the firm from his home base in Illinois. He is an expert on site location assessment, economic development strategy and management. His career spans 25 years of consulting, management, and research, assisting ­more than 250 clients with economic development and site location assignments. Mr. Ticknor has worked on EDR Group projects dating back ten years. These projects focus on assessment of economic development competitiveness and the management of economic development strategies, for clients ranging from electric utilities to regional economic development corporations.

Mr. Ticknor's past experience also includes serving as Principal in charge of the Fantus Consulting Development Advisory practice and a member of the six-person Fantus Executive Committee. He was also Division Manager for Program Development and Business Finance with the Illinois Department of Commerce & Community Affairs in Chicago. Mr. Ticknor served for 6 years on the Board of the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED), chaired the American Economic Development Council’s Consulting Section, and served as the Executive Consultant to D-21: The Global Utility Economic Development Council. He is a founding member of IEDC’s Economic Development Data Standards Task Force, and is currently working with Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management to create advanced economic development executive education courses.

Mr.Ticknor's work with EDR Group includes:

• Guidebook for evalating community development projects (for the Electric Power Research Institute and member utilities)
• Evaluation of the Entergy’s community development efforts in Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana
• Evaluation of economic development programs for an electric utility in New York State
• Assessment of economic development competitiveness for the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation

Other recent assignments for utility economic development programs include:

• Creating a model business retention & expansion program for Indiana Energy;
• Evaluation and economic development strategy for GPU Energy and Central Vermont Public Service;
• Economic Development Measurement Systems for AEP, MidAmerican Energy, and Nebraska Public Power
• Strategic economic development programs recommendations for Consumers Power as part of the Michigan gubernatorial transition.

Mr. Ticknor speaks extensively on ED issues, recently addressing the APPA Economic Development section, UEDA, NASDA, the Economic Development Association of Canada, BREI, and the state/provincial development groups of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Québec. He holds an MBA in Strategy and Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management, an MA in Urban History and Economics from the University of Michigan, and a BA in Economics from Kalamazoo College.

Telephone: (847) 446-8861