Carrera: COSTEP made excellent connections at Economix 2024

MISSION, Texas – Rick Carrera, economic development director for the Council for South Texas Economic Progress, says his attendance at last month’s Economix 2024 conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, was highly productive. 

The event was hosted by Consultant Connect, a group that links economic development specialists with site selectors. The conference ran Nov. 19-21.

“The excellent connections made (at the conference) will benefit everyone in attendance, the communities they represent, and their organizations,” Carrera said.

“The over 30 site selectors present exhibited the utmost professionalism, and the discussions with them will prove to be invaluable to efforts moving forward. The very informative breakout sessions were a plus… everyone brought their A-game. Time well spent, to say the least.”

COSTEP’s Rick Carrera at Economic 2024. (Photo credit: COSTEP)

Carrera said Economix 2024 went beyond the traditional conference experience, offering a unique blend of connections, inspiration, innovation, and relationship building with site consultants.

He said the content provided by the keynote speakers allowed attendees to gain invaluable insights into industry trends and site consultant perspectives. He said they gave compelling messages to elevate one’s leadership skills. 

Carrie Cole

One of the keynote speakers Carrera connected with was Carrie Cole, vice president of sales for Lightcast. Her presentation was titled, “How AI and technology are reshaping the way we approach site selection.”

Cole said: “With workforce challenges on the rise—including the impact of a shrinking labor force—leveraging cutting-edge data and AI-driven insights is more crucial than ever for making informed location decisions. Lightcast’s comprehensive workforce data can empower these processes and help organizations navigate this evolving landscape.”

The Council for South Texas Economic Progress, otherwise known as COSTEP, is a nongovernmental organization that advocates for regional economic development for a seven-county region that it calls Rio South Texas. The seven counties are Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Jim Hogg, Zapata, and Webb. 

“COSTEP focuses on business recruitment services and provides regional market data to host site selector tours, regional familiarization tours, and area economic development enrichment sessions,” the group says.

Editor’s Note: To learn more about COSTEP go to COSTEP.org or contact its CEO, Adam Gonzalez, at agonzalez@costep.org.

About Consultant Connect

Consultant Connect bridges the gap between leading economic developers and location consultants, providing a platform to gain transparent feedback, invaluable insight, and lasting business relationships.The concept grew out of the need seen first-hand by its founder, Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Southwest Michigan First, and how economic developers and site selectors can find themselves on opposite sides of the road and how money can be easily spent without results. With its roots in local economic development, this team knows what works – and what doesn’t.

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