Summary:

Kenny is the President and CEO of Columbus 2020, which is the economic development organization for the 11 county Columbus region. They work in partnership with state and local entities to generate opportunity and build capacity for economic growth. Prior to Columbus 2020, Kenny accumulated over 20 years of regional economic development and management consulting experience, with a focus on helping companies develop and execute their location strategies and helping communities achieve their goals. Kenny also serves on the governance committee of the International Development Council (IEDC).

Milestones:

(00:00:00) Background on Kenny McDonald
(00:01:00) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:01:32) The SunDown Group
(00:01:53) Small Biz Cares
(00:02:30) The Conquering Columbus Podcast Startup Package
(00:02:57) Conquering Columbus Intro
(00:03:52) Introduction to Kenny McDonald
(00:04:09) Kenny’s childhood and upbringing
(00:06:30) What is economic development?
(00:09:13) Life post Masters in Public Administration
(00:10:50) Into the private sector, management consulting, to help major corporate entities align with their geographical decisions
(00:11:54) 9/11
(00:12:45) Amazon HQ2
(00:14:45) Lessons learned through management consulting experience
(00:16:20) 90% of what we do these days is talk about “talent”
(00:18:00) What makes Columbus great?
(00:20:15) If we just simply repeated what we’ve done in the last 10-years, for the next 10-years, things will be great
(00:22:30) How does economic development operate?
(00:24:40) The Columbus 2020 focus
(00:26:55) Life post management consulting
(00:29:53) Mike makes his routine San Diego episode plug, and apparently rode a bus here
(00:32:15) We’re big enough to have scale, but small enough you’re going to get meaningful interaction and an affordable lifestyle
(00:33:55) Columbus 2020’s goals for the foreseeable future
(00:38:30) Columbus 2020 verbally commits to buying “Conquering Columbus”, price is being left undisclosed at this time
(00:38:45) Live Uncomfortably
(00:40:51) Like, subscribe, and share Conquering Columbus
(00:41:15) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:41:45) The SunDown Group
(00:42:08) Small Biz Cares
(00:42:45) The Conquering Columbus Podcast Startup Package
(00:43:11) Conquering Columbus Outro

Links:

Kenny McDonald
Columbus 2020
Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
The SunDown Group
SmallBiz Cares[subscribe]