“But it will also give us an unprecedented opportunity to showcase the entire state’s accomplishments, including our philanthropy, expansion of the biosciences and management of growth.” Morfessis served as the first president of Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Today she is the president of her own business and economic growth consulting firm, IO.INC Worldwide Growth.
Morfessis also was the second woman chair of one of the predecessor organizations to the IEDC—the National Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED)—from 1993 to 1994. In 2001, the American Economic Development Council, the largest and oldest economic development society, and CUED, a multi-service membership organization and advocate of economic development since 1967, merged and formed the IEDC.
“Any time you bring a conference to your hometown you can expect economic benefits,” says Judie Scalise, the other co-vice chair of the Host Committee. Scalise was the first woman chair of the American Economic Development Council and currently is the president of ESI Corp., a real estate and economic development consulting firm. “This conference will give Arizona an opportunity to let others know about best practices as they relate to economic development.”
“We’ll have an intellectual exchange between economic development leaders in our market and some of the top minds in the world,” says Barry Broome, the president and CEO of GPEC and the chair of the Host Committee. “It will be an exciting learning activity, one that I hope will help people recognize that Greater Phoenix is a place where compelling economic development is taking place.”
The IEDC has more than 4,500 members, representing governments, communities and businesses from the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia and other nations. The Host Committee anticipates that approximately 1,500 IEDC members will be present at the conference. In addition, it is expected that elected officials, developers and other businesses interested in economic development will participate as well.
The conference, to be held at the Westin Kierland Resort from Sept. 16-19, 2007, will be based around four “tracks” or themes. Jeff Finkle, the president and CEO of the International Economic Development Council, says Track One will be “The World of Options: How Communities Can Compete” Finkle says this track “examines trends affecting competitiveness and successful strategies that all communities can implement to compete.”
“Although still evolving, the rules of the 21st century global knowledge economy are markedly different from those that governed the work of the economic developer in times past,” Morfessis says. “Globalization is irrevocably changing how individuals, enterprises, communities and nations do business. New opportunities and challenges have been created by the growth of capitalism, opening of new markets and powerful new technologies that enable governments and firms to transact business across national boundaries on a scale that is unprecedented. As trade and foreign direct investment between countries continues to grow, transglobal corporations and small business alike are increasingly more sophisticated in how they assess and develop opportunities and allocate resources, including where they grow and place employment.”
Finkle says Track Two is called “The New Workforce and Entrepreneurship: Opportunities and Challenges.” This track focuses on the challenges and opportunities required to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce and entrepreneurs.
Scalise says Track Two also will concentrate on retaining talent and ensuring affordable and accessible housing.
“In terms of the workplace,” Morfessis says, “dramatic transformation is taking place. The present-day workforce of large, multi-national corporations is flatter and is characterized by a mix of free agents, part-time workers and full-time employees working both independently and in teams across time and space to leverage the knowledge and talent of the global workforce.”
Track Three is called “New Models and New Leaders for Economic Development” and will examine new models and programs and new forms of leadership needed to succeed in the evolving economy.
Track Four is called “20th Century Mainstays in the 21st Century Economy” and examines best practices that continue to bring about success on a day-to-day basis across a broad spectrum of economic development issues.
“We have tried to make sure the program expresses all elements of a 21st century economic development organization,” says Sheri Wakefield-Saenz, the conference program subcommittee chair and economic development director for the city of Tempe. “It’s exciting that the IEDC conference will be in metropolitan Phoenix, where so much economic development activity is occurring.”
“Phoenix is a newer city,” Finkle says. “It has developed later; thus it has had the benefits of learning best practices and has taken heed of pitfalls that other cities and communities have had. We anticipate that the conference will create better awareness of Greater Phoenix’s success stories.”

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