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Podcast Episode 58 - War Stories with J.R. Charles

J.R. shares his incredible COVID war story and explains the nobility of the economic development profession.

Dane Carlson
Dane Carlson
1 min read
Podcast Episode 58 - War Stories with J.R. Charles

Episode # 58 of the Econ Dev Show Podcast is now live.

Today's issue is brought to you by LocalIntel.

This episode is part two of conversation with J.R. Charles.  Here's part one.

In this episode, J.R. shares his incredible war story and explains the nobility of the economic development profession.

J.R. explains:

One of my biggest projects came when I was informed about a looming bankruptcy for one of our manufactuers (I'd like to keep the companies anonymous). Rather than let the company liquidate, I worked with the facility's manager to identify another company which bought out that insolvent manufacturer. The new company acquired the insolvent company on Feb 14, 2020 (we called it the best Valentine's present our community could recieve), and one month later, COVID hit and my wife and I welcomed our son into the world.
I worked with the new company's corporate and legal team via weekly zoom meetings to negotiate the incentive deal; at the same time, I kept our elected officials informed as they were dealing with quarantine protocols, face mask orders, and public health initiatives.

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Dane Carlson Twitter

CEO of Sitehunt, the AI platform for economic development, site selection and RFI automation. Host and publisher of the Econ Dev Show. In Houston, Texas.


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