REALTOR® Alex Ruggieri of Ramshaw Real Estate in Champaign helped organize and facilitate a panel discussion during an economic development symposium Thursday at the University of Illinois – iHotel Conference Center in Champaign.
The sixth annual event is designed to bring together community members, government leaders, corporations and academics to develop collaborative strategies using real estate, anchor institutions and talented workers to accelerate economic development in the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign region.
The first panel discussion, “’Place-making’ Economic Development through RE Innovation and Inclusion,” included:
- Jim Schultz, Intersect Illinois;
- Laura Frerichs, Director, Research Park and Economic Development, University of Illinois;
- Jeannette Tamayo, Regional Director, U.S. Economic Development Administration;
- Alexei V. Tchistyi, PhD, University of Illinois, Director – Office of Real Estate Research;
- Calvin L. Holmes, President, Chicago Community Loan Fund; and
- Thomas Osha, Managing Director, Wexford Science & Technology.
The second panel discussion, “Optimizing Real Estate Assets for Enterprises & Human Capital in Communities,” included:
- Tom Anderson, Global Product Owner, Real Estate Lifecycle Management and Cloud 4RE, SAP; and
- David J. Wilk, CRE, MAI, National Co-Chair, SVN Corporate Real Estate Services & Adjunct Faculty, Real Estate and Infrastructure, John Hopkins Carey Business School.
Special guests were:
- U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (video);
- Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank-Feinen;
- Jeffrey Brown, Dean, University of Illinois College of Business;
- Kreg Allison, Director, Division of Real Estate, State of Illinois; and
- Roger Cannaday, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois College of Business.