David A. Dodd, CEcD, FM is President/CEO of DADCO Consulting, Inc., a leading strategic economic development consulting firm, and Strategic Partner of EB-5 Consulting Group, a financial advisory firm specializing in project financing using the EB-5 program.  David is the former Dean of the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute, and remains one of its’ all-time highest rated instructors. 

 

After a seven-year career in commercial banking, and after helping to successfully organize an economic development program in the town of Logansport, Louisiana, David joined the Shreveport, Louisiana Chamber of Commerce as manager of Business Development and Financial Assistance.  Under his tenure, job creation increased by 130%, and he was named National Outstanding Young Leader in economic development by Site Selection magazine.  David then moved on to become partner in Morrison/Dodd Group, LLC for seven years, and formed his initial enterprise, DADCO Consulting, Inc., in 1999.    

 

David has extensive experience in development finance, having helped establish the Business and Industrial Development Corporation (BIDCO) industry in Louisiana, which provides capital to high growth companies.  BIDCOs in that state now total over $1.1 billion in total assets.  In 1996, he helped launch and fund the first BIDCO in Alaska, Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO.  He has since been chiefly responsible for their efforts to successfully secure an additional $47 million in funding through their successful application for Community Development Financial Institution funding and SBA 7(a) and USDA guarantee non-bank lender designations.  David served on the board of Gulf Coast BIDCO from 1995-2001, and currently serves on the advisory board of the $125 million National New Markets Fund.  He and Confluence Advisors partner Chris Feduccia have been successful in obtaining over $160 million in CDFI New Markets Tax Credit allocations and over $100 million in NMTC tax credit subsidies for projects throughout the United States.

 

David co-authored a 2007 report entitled “Creating Quality Jobs in Boston Through Market-Driven Community Development Endeavors” for the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), funded by the Richard and Susan Smith Foundation.  David has assisted fifty-seven companies in obtaining capital and venture funding over the past 17 years of professional consulting, two of which have gone public.  David recently structured a complex financing package for construction of Millennium Studios’ new $12 million film facility in Shreveport.  

 

David is an internationally-recognized instructor and lecturer.  He has provided training and presentations for organizations throughout the U.S. and abroad, including 37 state economic development organizations, the Southern Economic Development Council, the International Economic Development Council, the Australian Parliamentary Library, the Development Ban k of Japan, the Industrial Asset Managers ‘Council, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  His work for the Louisiana Partnership for Technology and Innovation included hands-on assistance with technology companies in North Louisiana.  With former business partner Ed Morrison, he assisted Louisiana Tech University in creation of the LTU Technology Foundation, resulting in a substantial increase in intellectual property transfer.  

David co-authored a National Institute for Standards and Technology report on technology in the workforce for the Consortium for Education, Research, and Technology, a university consortium that resulted in nine new initiatives for workforce improvement in technology-related fields.  

David developed the business plan for the InterTech Venture Fund of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, a fund for development of biomedical businesses for the InterTech Research Park, a 300 acre comprehensive redevelopment research and technology park.  

 

David also co-authored the book “Economic Development in the New Millennium”, published by the AEDC Press, and he has contributed articles to “Economic Development Review”, “SEDC News”, Site Selection and Xpansion Journal magazines, and various other regional and national publications, including Clusters Asia-Pacific, of which he is a founding member.  David is also a board member of the Americas Chapter of The Competitiveness Institute, an international organization devoted to competitive advantage principles.  He serves on the International Committee of the International Economic Development Council.     

 

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, David served as lead consultant in organization and implementation of the Gulf Coast Business Reinvestment Forum, sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the International Economic Development Council, and the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.   David’s successful organization and leadership of this critical summit resulted in an action plan to guide business reinvestment and job creation in the affected states, which served as the policy basis for critical changes to the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act.  This appointment was due, in large part, to David’s extensive work along the gulf coast, from developing a cluster-based economic development strategy for the New Orleans region, developing a strategy for the Bayou Vision initiative of the South Louisiana Economic Council, providing board and volunteer training for the Southwest Louisiana Alliance to developing a cluster-based recruitment strategy for the North Mississippi Industrial Development Association.  

 

David holds a B.S. degree from Louisiana Tech University, and has completed the Graduate School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University.  He is a Certified Economic Developer, and attended the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute (EDI) before moving on to become Dean and Director of International Development, and is currently a faculty member.   David is most proud of his recent involvement in Mexico, leading a National effort as head of Economic Development Training for CETYS University in Baja-California that has the distinction of being the first ever Economic Development Course and Institute outside the United States that has been accredited by the International Economic Development Council.

 

David’s latest work in disaster recovery includes working in partnership with New Orleans based Novaces, Inc. to win a master services contract with the Economic Development Administration to provide  subject matter expertise in recovery from major disasters. Over the past 6 months, David has worked in New Jersey on recovery from Superstorm Sandy, and in Oklahoma on recovery from tornadoes, and in ongoing efforts to assist the fisheries industry in Plaquemines, Orleans, and St. Bernard parishes in realizing new and enhanced revenue opportunities after the devastation of the PB oil spill.  

 

David also assisted the Mexico Ministry of Agriculture in developing long-term recovery strategies for the Colorado River Basin in Baja-California after a devastating 2010 earthquake, resulting in formation of a new agency for recovery and long-term economic strategy in both rural and urban areas throughout Mexico.  In June of 2011, David returned to Japan to tour the damaged region and make a presentation on disaster recovery at a national summit on the March, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.  David has been honored to be selected as a Fellow Member by the International Economic Development Council for significant contribution to, and exemplary leadership in, the global economic development profession.   

 

David serves on the Board of Directors of It’s All About the Kids® Foundation as a Director and Treasurer.