TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gray Swoope, CEO and founder of the economic development consulting firm VisionFirst Advisors, LLC., today announced that Greg Word will join VisionFirst as senior consultant Sept. 4, 2018. VisionFirst, a subsidiary of Butler Snow LLP, is a customer-driven consulting firm that develops strategy, solves problems and delivers results while mitigating risks and barriers. This expansion supports the company’s growth as it serves clients in 26 states.
Word will complement the existing team of economic development strategists providing location advisory and site selection services; incentive negotiation; state, regional and local economic development strategy; organizational structure and management; marketing and communications; as well as building high performance teams and focusing on other problem-solving or collaborative initiatives.
Currently, Word serves as senior vice president of Economic Development for the Greater Jackson Alliance. Prior to joining the Alliance, he was bureau manager of Business Intelligence and Support for the Mississippi Development Authority. Word served as Manager Technical/Graphic Services for North Mississippi Industrial Development Association. In these roles, his involvement on economic development teams helped produce numerous successful projects resulting in more than $2.5 billion in investment and more than 4,800 announced jobs.
“Greg will be a great addition to the VisionFirst team,” said Swoope, VisionFirst president and CEO. “He brings additional in-demand skills that will add value to the services we provide our clients.”
Word’s extensive economic development experience is both broad and specialized featuring prominently product development, research and analysis, industrial building and site evaluations, lead generation, economic research packages, GIS-based mapping, 3-D modeling and virtual reality profiles. He has been recognized for his work in marketing and design ranging from branding, identity and logo design to prospect-centered packaging, proposals, digital photographic renderings, print and digital advertisement design as well as interactive presentations.
A graduate of Mississippi State University, Word currently serves on the board of directors for the Mississippi Economic Development Council as past president. He will work out of the company’s Ridgeland, Miss. offices.
About VisionFirst Advisors LLC
After 30 years of leading public and private economic development organizations in three states, Gray Swoope launched VisionFirst Advisors, LLC, an economic development consulting company that provides services focused on location advisory and site selection; state, regional and local economic development strategy; organizational structure and management; building high performance teams; result-driven marketing and communications; and public/private collaborative initiatives. A customer-driven consulting firm, VisionFirst Advisors acts seamlessly as an extension of clients’ teams to develop strategy, solve problems, and deliver results while mitigating risks and barriers. VisionFirst serves clients in 26 states and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Butler Snow LLP with nearly 400 attorneys in 22 U.S. cities as well as international offices in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. For more information contact Gray Swoope at VisionFirst Advisors at gray.swoope@visionfirstadvisors.com or call 850-558-6910.
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