Jeff Finkle, CEcD, President and CEO of the International Economic Development Council, to Speak at OEDA 360

As President and CEO of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) – the world’s largest economic development membership organization – Jeff Finkle is a recognized leader and international authority on economic development.
IEDC as a membership organization serves city, county state economic development organizations along with their public private partners as they try to create, retain expand jobs, grow tax base and enhance wealth.

With the formation of IEDC in 2001 following the merger of the Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED) – where he was president for 15 years – and the American Economic Development Council (AEDC), Jeff set the course for a more effective and influential organization. Today IEDC is renowned for its leadership in professionalizing and diversifying the field of economic development.

Jeff has served on the board of directors of the Arlington County economic development commission and Alexandria Partnership, both in Virginia. Under Jeff’s leadership IEDC formerly managed the Association of University Research Parks and the Association of Defense Communities. He currently sits on ACT’s National Workforce Solutions Advisory Board.

Jeff previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and has received numerous awards over the years for his commitment to making sustainable economic development a priority in communities of all sizes. Significantly, in 2011 he was lauded by the U.S. Department of Commerce for his 25 years of stewardship over CUED and IEDC. Moreover, as a leader in community service and philanthropy, in 1989 Jeff founded the Bollinger Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to children who have lost a parent who worked in the field of economic development.

A frequent speaker, Jeff has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, Fox television and the Journal Report on PBS. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications in 1976 from Ohio University in Athens and pursued graduate studies in business administration at Ohio State University. He maintains a strong connection with Ohio University’s Voinovich School for Leadership and Public Affairs where he also serves as an Appalachian New Economy Partnership Fellow.