TANNER JONES - INTENSIVE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT October 2024

Jennifer Ryan

As GEDI celebrates its 40th class of the Intensive Economic Development Training Course, we have been chatting with some of our course alumni to learn where they are now and how their participation in the program has impacted their professional careers.

Tanner Jones currently serves as the Associate Director of Economic Development Planning for Steadfast City Economic and Community Partners. Mr. Jones is a graduate of Intensive Class 2015.

Q & A with Tanner

Job while attending the Intensive Program:

• Research Analyst , Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance

Career highlights since graduating Intensive:

• After spending over seven years at Baldwin EDA, where I led the organization’s Research, Marketing, and Communications initiatives, I joined the team at Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners in the fall of 2022. Steadfast City is a holistic economic and community development consulting firm focused on developing better communities across the country, with a team featuring diverse skillsets and expertise in economic incentives, community planning, economic development planning, grant writing and fund development, grant and incentive compliance, and New Markets Tax Credits. At Steadfast City, I lead our team’s economic development planning team of 5 people, where we assist communities, nonprofits, local EDO’s, utility companies, and others in assessing communities and their economic outputs and developing strategies that improve local economies and position our clients to take the next right step in the economic development process.

Favorite thing about the Intensive course:

• The Auburn Intensive course uniquely prepares individuals to succeed in economic development in Alabama. I was able to attend the course within my first couple of months of moving to Alabama, and the course gave me an incredible baseline of knowledge that prepared me to become an active participant in Alabama’s economic development ecosystem. For people who are new to economic development or new to Alabama, there is no better option for training and professional development.

Biggest lesson you learned through Intensive:

• Alabama’s economic development ecosystem is a tight-knit network of professionals who value relationships and local knowledge and understanding. The Intensive course prepared me to dive straight into that network through introductions to key leaders in the economic development space and the opportunity to learn alongside individuals who eventually become peers in the economic development space and great friends.

Concepts learned in Intensive that you still use today:

• The practical application of the knowledge that was gained in this course was immediately valuable to me and gave me a head start on my career in economic development in Alabama. The baseline knowledge of Alabama’s economic development process and structure provided me with the knowledge I needed to successfully launch my career in Alabama.

Are you still in contact with people you met through Intensive?

• Some of my closest (and favorite) professional connections in economic development are the friends that I made during the Auburn intensive course. When I find myself at economic development networking events, these are the people that I am most delighted to re-connect with, and many of us have been able to support one another in various ways, throughout our careers. Economic development is built around people and relationships, and the Intensive course helped me find my economic development people in a new state and a new profession.

What would you tell someone who is considering going through Intensive but not sure if they can make the time or financial commitment?

• If you want to learn about economic development, specifically within Alabama, there is no better way to gain that initial knowledge or launch into a career. While each person has their own motivation for attending a professional development or education program, you can be certain that this experience will be valuable to you and that, as soon as you arrive in Auburn, you will no longer be alone or without a network of support in economic development. The relationships and knowledge base that the Intensive course provides is a common thread among most economic developers in Alabama, and there’s no greater stamp of approval than the careers and relationships that have been built and sustained by people who have been through this program.