by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
As a Certified Planner of the American Planning Association, John Shepard brings over 25 years’ experience in planning and economic development. He has led comprehensive plans, strategic plans, and economic development initiatives for municipalities and counties across the Midwest and Mountain West, including award-winning work recognized by the American Planning Association. His project portfolio also includes economic impact studies, Main Street revitalization, creative placemaking, and downtown redevelopment, all directly aligned with goals of building a supportive environment for entrepreneurs and the retention and expansion of existing businesses.
In addition to all this expertise, John’s heart lies in heritage tourism, writing a weekly series on the delights and value, plus tourism as an economic driver. He began his career conducting a comprehensive long-range plan for a 9-county region in Minnesota, including county and city land use plans, local water management plans, regional transportation planning, and FEMA all-hazard mitigation plans. From there, he worked on long-range planning, including infrastructure, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then went on to serve as the planner for special projects in economic development and tourism in New Mexico, along with six additional special projects.
More recently, he completed plans for 14 locations in Nebraska and several others in Colorado, Iowa, and other locations in the Midwest. In addition, he has advised local governments on economic development, wind and solar energy systems, and data center development to align public investment with community goals.
Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Master of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Colorado-Denver
- AICP Certification, American Institute of Certified Planners, 2002, Maintained 2019
Publications
- Outmigration as an Economic Indicator, Southwest Regional Development Commission
- Grass Roots Response from the Great Plains, Applied Research and Public Policy
- The New Economy of the Great Plains: Implications for Economic Development
- A New Vision for the Heartland: The Great Plains in Transition, Center for the New West
- Measuring Distress: Economic Indicators and the Great Plains, Center for the New West
- Leadership Through Partnerships: The National Trust’s Main Street Program as a Community Economic
- Development Tool, Urban Design and Preservation Quarterly
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
After many years of traveling the world for CNN, producing stories for a diverse portfolio of clients including the Food Network, Discovery, T-Mobile and several publications, Greg has come home to America. He has refocused his work on communities in the United States and what makes them livable.
Education
- Bachelor of Science with honors, Broadcast Journalism, University of Colorado-Boulder
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
A graduate of Pratt Institute with a Master of Science in Historic Preservation and a Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management from New York University, and with involvement in virtually every project the team works on, Ethan is well prepared to engage with communities. He has been involved in researching and writing histories of people and places in New York City, Upstate New York, and in towns along Route 66, as well as overseas in Italy. His graduate thesis explored the revitalization of Main Streets along Route 66 using the Albergo Diffuso, an Italian community-based heritage tourism development model that spreads guest rooms and amenities across multiple vacant buildings in historic town centers.
As a historic researcher, he has worked with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, amended the Chelsea Hotel’s National Register Nomination, assisted in preparing the Middletown, NY Commercial Historic District Nomination, and developed the Route 66 Historic Sites Project. He was also involved in a multidisciplinary studio that provided design, interpretation, and programming recommendations for the Prospect Park Alliance’s Reimagine Lefferts Historic House initiative and served as a Community Planning Fellow assisting the Staten Island Community Board with mapping and databases.
Education
- Bachelor of Science, Hospitality and Tourism Management, New York University
- Master of Science with honors, Historic Preservation, Pratt Institute
Memberships, Certifications, Recognitions
- International Council on Monuments and Sites, Member
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
Jamie Nichols is a seasoned economic development professional with a strong record of leadership in rural revitalization, small business support, and regional capacity building, rural entrepreneurship, housing and childcare, tourism strategy, and organizational development. She has served as Executive Director of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation in Illinois, leading strategic initiatives to support local entrepreneurs, attract investment, strengthen infrastructure, and grow the region’s tourism economy. Jamie brings over a decade of cross-sector experience, including past leadership roles with the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority and the Yukon 66 Main Street Association.
Her background includes targeted work in business retention and expansion (BRE), housing development, and innovative funding strategies for rural communities. In addition to her public-sector leadership, Jamie contributes professionally to the field through her Honest Economic Development series and was the founder of Econ Dev Ops, a virtual assistant agency serving chambers of commerce and economic development organizations nationwide. The firm specializes in providing scalable support solutions to help local organizations extend their reach, improve operational efficiency, and increase community impact.
As a Certified Crowdfund Better Advisor, Jamie led Pike County to become the first crowdfunding-certified economic development corporation in the United States. Her approach blends traditional and emerging tools to create practical, community-driven solutions that reduce reliance on government grants and promote local ownership. Her approach to the work is data-informed and people-centered, and Jamie is especially good at on-the-ground interviews and communications to suss out the real challenges and opportunities and align diverse stakeholders around shared goals.
Education
- Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice, University of Central Oklahoma
- Master of Science, Economic Development, University of Southern Mississippi
- Certified Economic Developer Coursework, Oklahoma University Economic Development Institute
Certifications
by delliott | Dec 19, 2025
As a Certified Economic Development Professional, currently working on a PhD in Economic Development, Jim Gibson brings a very practical, yet broad perspective to his work, having held a variety of positions during a nearly 25-year career. He has served as a City Administrator, City Manager, the Regional Services Manager for a Council of Governments, in a combined position of Assistant City Manager and Economic Development Director, and Finance Director and Management Analyst for a City. In addition, he is a Certified Government Financial Officer and served as the Economic Development Director of a Municipal Development District.
Jim’s expertise is so well recognized that he is engaged with the International Economic Development Council as a reviewer of the CEcD exams. Having this varied background delivers a wide range of expertise gained though facilitating the sale and approvals of missing middle housing properties, targeting applicable and desirable industries for economic development expansion, drafting new grant program policies, development of comprehensive and tourism master plans, recruiting new businesses, clearing blighted properties, managing a tax reinvestment zone, expanding a municipal utility system, and community benchmarking to identify key success actions taken by both peer and competitive communities.
Education
- Bachelor of Science, Political Science, Sam Houston State University
- Master of Arts, Public Administration, University of Houston
- Economic Development Institute Certificate, University of Oklahoma
- Doctorate in Economic Development – in progress, University of Southern Mississippi
- Leadership Training: Designing the Organization, Managing the Organization, Leading Teams
Memberships, Certifications, Recognition
- Certified Government Finance Officer, Government Finance Officers Association of Texas
- Certified Economic Developer, International Economic Development Council
- Master Economic Development Practitioner, Consortium of University of Southern Mississippi, Texas Christian University, and University of New Mexico
- International Economic Development Council, Education and Certification Committee,
- Excellence in Economic Development – Annual Report Award 2023
- Texas Economic Development Council, Forward Planning and Sales Tax Committees, Conference Presenter and Economic Excellence Awards 2022, 2023, 2024
- Development District of Central Texas Board Member
- Government Financial Officers Association, Member, Budget Awards 2015-2021
Publications
- Accelerating Rural Economic Development, International Economic Development Council, Economic Development Journal
