Speaker Biographies
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Benjamin Erulkar, Deputy Assistant Secretary Of Commerce For Economic Development
Benjamin Erulkar has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development since December, 2005. In this capacity, Mr. Erulkar is responsible for coordinating the day-to-day activities of the Economic Development Administration (EDA). Mr. Erulkar also directs the strategic planning efforts to fulfill EDA’s mission: to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy.
Prior to his appointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mr. Erulkar served as EDA’s Chief Counsel where he led and managed all aspects of EDA’s legal practice and policy – including working to secure EDA’s 2004 reauthorization legislation and promulgating a comprehensive revision of EDA’s regulations. Mr. Erulkar also served as counsel to the Strengthening America’s Communities Advisory Committee, a Federal Advisory Committee established by the Secretary of Commerce.
Mr. Erulkar holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an M.A. with Distinction in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and an A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard University.
Barry Bird joined EDA as it chief counsel in January 2006. Prior to joining EDA, he was an attorney in the Office of General Counsel in the Department of Commerce where he handled legislative matters relating to economic development and other issues for 25 years. During the course of his service with the Department, Mr. Bird served as acting chief counsel for EDA during the summer of 2003, as senior adviser to the General Counsel in 1992, and as acting chief counsel for the Minority Business Development Agency for the first half of 1990. Mr. Bird began his federal career with EDA in 1976.
Kevin Thompson, Program Analyst with the Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Workforce Investment.
The Office of Workforce Investment has a principal responsibility for the various programs under the Workforce Investment Act and the national network of One-Stop Career Center established under the Act. It also manages the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative and the President’s Community Based Job Training Initiative. The Office also has supports a number of Internet-based electronic tools including America’s Career InfoNet and Career Voyages. The Office also has a major role in developing guidance and working with the various State and local partners under the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative launched in November 2005. Mr. Thompson has particular responsibility for partnership building and communications, including the www.doleta.gov/usworkforce web site designed for the workforce community.
Jack Gleason, Administrator, Rural Development, Business and Cooperatives Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture
For more than 30 years, Jack Gleason has served rural communities. His proven record of achievements through partnerships with private, public, and community-based organizations seamlessly lends itself to his position as Administrator. His current position provides unique opportunities to further benefit rural America. Specifically, he manages and oversees the implementation of business and cooperative loan and grant programs for the Rural Development mission area. Additionally, Jack promotes the understanding and use of cooperatives through educational, technical, research, and funding assistance. Furthering the President’s commitment toward renewable energy, Jack administers programs to facilitate and support renewable energy, value-added agricultural businesses and biomass conversion in national and international markets.
Prior to his current appointment, Jack was Associate Administrator for Rural Housing Programs in Rural Development. He was Deputy Administrator for Multi-Family Housing programs at Rural Development from 2004-2005. He held an appointment as the State Director of Washington Rural Development from 2001-2004. He has been with USDA in various capacities since 1976, including an assignment as Rural Business and Utilities Programs Director from 1996-2001.
Chad Moutray, Ph.D., Chief Economist and Director of Economic Research, U.S. Small Business Administration
Chad Moutray joined the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy in October 2002. At Advocacy, he is the Chief Economist and Director of the Office of Economic Research. He oversees the research being conducted both internally and externally through contracts. Advocacy is responsible for maintaining and making available disseminating and maintaining a number of databases on small firms.
At Advocacy, he organized a series of regional focus groups on small business research to receive feedback for strategic purposes regarding research and data products and acted on these suggestions. For example, he oversaw a new, annual Advocacy-produced series of publications, The Small Business Economy, which replaced The State of Small Business. He also organized four cosponsored conferences: a forward-looking conference in 2004 titled, “Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century,” with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; “Putting It Together: The Role of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development” in 2005 with the Kauffman Foundation, the Council of State Governments, and the National Lieutenant Governors Association; a pre-conference session for the International Council on Small Business’s annual meetings in 2005, “Global Perspectives on Entrepreneurship Policy,” with the National Federation of Independent Business; and “Entrepreneurship: The Foundation for Economic Revitalization in the Gulf Coast Region in 2006 with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Public Forum Institute, and the Gulf Coast Urban Entrepreneur Partnership. He also created a resource sheet for faculty and students to promote more small business classroom discussion and research.
He has a Ph.D. in economics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and an M.A. and B.A. in economics from Eastern Illinois University.
Peggy Harwood, Program Manager for Urban and Community Forestry, USDA, Forest Service
Peggy Harwood is a national program manager for urban and community forestry (UCF) at USDA Forest Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she provides national leadership for the UCF program’s strategic planning and performance reporting responsibilities. Since 1999, Peggy has also coordinated USDA’s commitment to develop a green infrastructure training program in partnership with The Conservation Fund, the National Association of Regional Councils and many other federal, state, and non-governmental organizations. She has over 30 years of public land management and environmental planning experience in state and federal government. Peggy studied national resource management at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. and earned master’s degrees in public administration from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and in geological sciences from The University of Texas at Austin.
Kris Hoellen is Director of the Conservation Fund's Conservation Leadership Network
Kris Hoellen is Director of the Conservation Fund's Conservation Leadership Network, the training arm of the Fund. She comes to The Fund from the URS Corporation where she was responsible for managing a thirty-two member group of natural and cultural resource management specialists. Prior to joining the URS Corporation, she served as Director of Environmental Programs for the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) where she was the inaugural director of the AASHTO Center for Environmental Excellence. Prior to her work at AASHTO, she was a senior program officer for the Transportation Research Board (TRB)/National Academy of Sciences. Prior to joining TRB, she served for 9 years as the legislative director/associate deputy director for the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials, a trade association representing the waste divisions of the State Environmental Protection Agencies. She received a bachelor's degree from Emory University and a master's degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University.
Ruth T. McWilliams, National Sustainable Development Coordinator, USDA - Forest Service
Ruth is a native of the State of New York. She was raised on a family-owned dairy farm along the St. Lawrence River in the heart of the Thousand Islands region. She is married; her husband Joe was raised on a farm in the State of Mississippi and is now retired from US Department of Agriculture. They own and manage a small business, including forest land and a lodge, inside the Adirondack Park in northern New York State. Their son, Ian, is a college student pursuing interests in music and the outdoors.
Ruth earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Ecology from Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, in 1976. In graduate school she focused on public policy, obtaining a Master of Science degree in consumer economics from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, in 1978.
Scott Burge, Special Projects Coordinator, Central Mississippi Planning and Development District
Scott Burge is the Special Projects Coordinator for the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD) in Jackson, Mississippi. CMPDD serves seven counties and 33 municipalities in the central region of the state. Scott has three years experience in transportation, land use and comprehensive planning. Mr. Burge is working with local governments, watershed groups and corporations to start a Landcare movement in the central region of Mississippi. He also is working with the National Association of Regional Councils and several other national groups to promote Landcare nationally.
TRANSPORTATION
Neil is the Director of Government Affairs for the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA); based in Washington, DC, IBTTA represents the worldwide toll industry with members in 25 countries, including more than 60 US agencies in 35 states.
Since assuming this position in 1993, he has worked to promote a better Congressional understanding about the mechanisms and value of toll financing as state and federal funding resources are declining, as well as advocating broader acceptance of innovative financing concepts by the U.S. DOT and the state legislatures. Neil has been active on issues including the allocation of radio frequency spectrum by the Federal Communications Commission (related to electronic toll collection), funding and work force issues at border crossings, and the propagation of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. He serves as staff liaison for the Education and Outreach Task Force, the Government Affairs Task Force, the Government Relations & Law, International Crossings, and the Engineering, Design and Research Committees.
He was named to the Blue Ribbon Panel of Experts supporting the National Surface Transportation Policy and revenue Study Commission (1909 Commission) in December, 2006.
Prior to joining IBTTA Neil was the Director of Government Relations for the Highway Users Federation for Safety and Mobility (HUFSAM) from 1987 through 1993. HUFSAM (now the American Highway Users Alliance) was a national coalition of highway interests, with 400 corporate and association members and 2000 individual members, focusing on Federal fuel tax policies, the treatment alternative fuels, promotion of Arctic energy exploration, and efforts to mitigate clean air act requirements on highway funding and transportation development.
From 1975 through 1987, he held positions with theNational Asphalt Pavement Association, culminating as the Director of Government Relations. In this position, he represented highway contractors and equipment suppliers with primary focus on highway funding issues, energy and taxation issues, labor relations and disadvantaged business enterprises.
In 2001, he served as Chairman of the “Road Gang”, a DC-based fraternal society focused solely on transportation issues. He has been a member of this organization since 1986 and served as Secretary/treasurer for eight years.
Neil received a BS in Political Science from the University of Maryland.
COMMUNICATIONS
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Powell Tate|Weber Shandwick
As the leader of Powell Tate|Weber Shandwick, Jody Powell has been instrumental in creating Washington’s most dynamic and respected public relations firm, serving a client roster that includes many of the nation’s prominent corporations, trade associations, and nonprofit organizations.
In May 1970 Powell joined gubernatorial candidate Jimmy Carter’s staff. When Carter became the governor of Georgia in November 1970, Powell was appointed press secretary – a position he held through the end of Carter’s term as President of the United States.
From January 1982 to January 1987, he wrote a twice-weekly column syndicated by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and was a news analyst for ABC News, appearing on such shows as “This Week with David Brinkley,” “Nightline,” and “Good Morning America.” He also lectured frequently on public policy and press issues.
Powell’s book, The Other Side of the Story, about the press/presidency relationship was published in April 1984 by William Morrow & Company.
From January 1985 through May 1986, Powell held the Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Professorial Chair in American Politics at Boston College, teaching a course on the press and the presidency. From 1987 until 1991, he was chairman and chief executive officer of Powell Adams & Rinehart, formerly Ogilvy & Mather Public Affairs.
Powell was born September 30, 1943, in Vienna, Georgia, and attended public schools there. He attended the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1961 to 1964 and graduated from Georgia State University with a B.A. in political science in 1966. Powell became involved in the 1970 gubernatorial campaign of Jimmy Carter, working as a volunteer, while he was in graduate school at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., where he completed course work on a combined M.A./Ph.D. in political science.
Brian Wommack is a senior vice president at Powell Tate|Weber Shandwick in Washington, D.C. An experienced attorney, he specializes in communications strategies for clients facing major crises, high-stakes litigation, investigations, and contentious public policy battles. His understanding of the law and the media gives him a unique and valuable perspective that he brings to his clients’ challenges.
Wommack’s expertise encompasses all stages of protecting corporate interest and reputation, including crisis preparation and contingency planning, crisis response and recovery, and public communications surrounding litigation. He has helped clients whose business and reputation were threatened by natural and manmade disasters, investigations of corporate malfeasance, congressional oversight investigations, grand jury investigations, settlements of significant criminal and civil charges, and a variety of litigation matters, including class actions, products liability, charges of discrimination, allegations of fraud, and general business disputes.
His clients have come from the ranks of the Fortune 500, trade associations, and high-profile leaders in government, business, medicine, and law. For many clients, a significant measure of success is that neither the client nor the facts of the dispute have become public.
Prior to joining Powell Tate|Weber Shandwick, Wommack was a practicing attorney, specializing in white-collar crime, products liability, and toxic tort. He clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and worked for Senator Joseph Biden and then-Representative Richard Durbin.
Wommack earned his law degree with honors from the University of Illinois College of Law. He holds a bachelor’s degree with a double major in English and political science from Duke University.