Episode 23 | LIVE from the SEDC Annual Conference in Williamsburg | Jim DeCesare, Steve Cook, & Danielle Sweat

Hello SCDC members and welcome to the 2023 annual SCDC conference held here in beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia. Hi, I'm Ray Methven with Insightful and the truth is while Matt Matthew weren't looking, I hijacked the podcast again. So you have the next few days with me and with a lineup of guests I'm really excited about. We'll have conversations with community leaders, state leaders, really good vendors we love. So stay tuned and join us. Good questions coming up. Hi folks, we're back with Jim Desesri. He is the senior partner of the Desesri Group, Jim. Welcome to the podcast. Hey Ray, thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm excited about this. We had a chance to meet last year. And now we're here together again. I'm loving this conference. What's your takeaway about Williamsburg? Well, Colonial Williamsburg is, I love any place I can go and experience history. And you know, Colonial Williamsburg is living history. Yes, so many, I guess, reenactors or interpreters or whatever they call them, on the streets, throughout the town, even here at the conference. I mean, we heard from Thomas Jefferson and George Washington at lunch. We had five in drums yesterday leading us to a reception. And it's just really cool to be in a place where so much history has happened, especially in the early development of the United States, that basically allows us to have these economic freedoms that we have today. And for us to be here to expand the South and all the economic opportunities we have here. Well said, well said, I agree. Jim, tell us a little bit about the Dessessery Group. Well, the Dessessery Group is a product of COVID, not the pandemic. So I was working for, and I'll do my quick, short version of this, but I was working for a national construction company and business development, but I was doing some side work for some various organizations to a business consulting. I have a past in the legislature in Kentucky. It's been 14 years and serves as the chair of the Economic Development Committee. And so my daughter has a public relations background. And so we were sitting at coffee one day. I said, you know, we ought to take all of our side hustles and put them together and create a business for you and me. And now my son works with us as well. So we do business development, business consulting, economic development, economic consulting, political consulting. And then we have a full-blown public relations firm as well, as well. And so we have about 25 clients at any given time, where we'll handle everything from their social media to their websites, to me going out doing business development for them, or working as an interim economic development director for a county or a location. Yeah, so those are the things that we do. We kind of, I say it this way, we'll facilitate what any client needs as long as it's legal and ethical. Well, let me ask you this. We're talking with Jim DeSezri of the DeSezri Group. Jim, looking out especially for our podcast listeners at home at work, what do you see on the horizon that our SEDC members should be aware of? Well, I guess the main thing, and we've heard a little bit about it here is, you know, the reshoring and onchoring of foreign companies coming back to the US or US companies that have gone foreign and are coming back. And if you look anywhere in the country, the southeast is where all the action is. We have the greatest workforce in the world. We have great location. Most of us in the SEDC are within a day's drive of 70, 75% of the population. So we're strategically located to provide those goods and services to the consumers, whether they're here domestically or internationally. And with SEDC states, I think they've made it very clear to industry that we're open for business, unlike other parts of the country where it's a little tougher to do business. I don't want to just merge any state, but I'm sure you're thinking of one right now. Sure. And that's why the South is so hot. It's because we are open for business. We're ready for your industry. We're ready for your mom and pop business. We're ready for anything that you have. And we can provide the manpower for it. And I know we have work shortage issues, but if you look at some of the participation rates in the southeast, they're pretty good. People are working. And people in the South tend to know what hard work is about. And you don't get anything for nothing. And so we're here and it's great to collaborate with other economic developers and people like you and the vendors that are here and learn and bounce ideas off of each other. I had a great dinner last night with some folks from Tennessee and Texas, and we were just sharing best practices, you know. And those are the things that we can take. Every state's different. All the incentives are different in every state. So we can share our ideas and how we do things into developing projects, developing customers, bringing industry to town, what you do when they come to town, how do you treat them, what you do for your groundbreakings, all those things. Sure. There's so much to bounce off of each other and learn from each other as well. So that's what makes this organization so great. And it's turned out to be the largest attended conference in the history of SEC, which is the oldest economic development group in the country. Yeah, and that says something. It does say something. We are talking with Jim DeCesri of the DeCesri group. Now Jim want to take a little bit of a left turn. All right. Because I know you're right instead. Yeah, we can do that. And because not everyone may know, you're a Bowling Green fellow, right? I Bowling Green Kentucky. Bowling Green Kentucky and something near and dear to my heart, you are a rock and roll drummer. I am, I'm a semi-professional drummer. Talk to everybody about what being a semi-professional drummer means to Jim DeCesri. Well, I don't hunt. I don't fish. I barely play golf. But I can play the heck out of some drums. And so we have a band. It's a seven piece band. We have horns in the band. And we get out, we're a wedding band. But your old guys getting out, doing what we've always done, our whole lives, singing, playing our instruments, entertaining crowds. And so we do a lot of weddings, a lot of corporate events, a lot of concerts in the park, type deal. We rarely play bars because they don't pay anything first of all. And it's just, it's a lifelong passion that I've had since I was 12 years old. And we don't do originals because nobody wants to hear that from us. They want to hear songs that you know and love. So we can play anything from Wilson Pickett to Chicago, to Hugh Lewis in the news, to Sam and Dave. And we do all those songs. And we have a good time with it. I like to say that about 70% of our repertoire comes from the muscle show sound. Another place near and near to my heart. And you know, some great musicals recorded there. And I have visited there a couple of times. I love that place. I sort of, that's my mecca that I go to. And it's just neat to know that that music still alive and well. And we could play weddings all the time. And it's amazing how many young people know every song we're playing. Right. You know, so the music is timeless. And it's carrying on. And you know, it's great to, you know, we're playing Journey, just a small town boy. You know, they're there singing with us. Yeah. So that's what I do for fun. And to, you know, hang out with my friends because my bandmates are really my best friends. Some of us have been together in a band for 23 years. Is that right? Yeah. And so, you know, in different versions of bands, but this is a lot of fun. I also have a podcast too. I don't know. Cool. I don't want to leave that out. No, it's for us. What do you do? So it's, it's got a real cool title. It's called The Cesare Group Podcast. And it comes out every Monday morning at 5 a.m. And we talk about economic development and business in South Central Kentucky. Okay. So this week, we have my good friend Greg Kocherson talking about, he's a leadership expert. We're talking about the flow, the flow state and how to be the best version of yourself in business. Next week, we'll have the Western Kentucky University president Timothy Caboney on with us. Talk about the economic impact the university has on our region. So, you know, we've been doing that since earlier this year. We have a newsletter that goes with it as well. So, you know, go to the Cesare Group.com and you can sign up for the newsletter or check out the podcast on any of your favorite podcasting platform. Cool. Cool. I'll check it out. Now, let's close out with a handful of questions we're going to play favorites today. Okay. And I'm going to, I love these. One of them because as a rock drummer, I'm going to tweak this a little bit. But first, Jim, what is your favorite holiday? Favorite holiday. Fourth of July. Fourth of July. I do like Christmas. I mean, I love the Christmas in Easter, but I love the fourth of July. Are you a fireworks guy? I like watching them. I don't like setting them all. All right. I rather so one do that. Okay. What is your favorite dessert? Key lime pie. Key lime pie? Jim, what is your favorite movie? Ooh, wow. That's a tough one. I got a lot. It depends on what day of the week it is. I get it. What, okay, I'll ask it this way. What are you most likely to watch 20 times in a row? Oh, a movie-wise? Sure. Right now, top gun maverick. Top gun maverick. There you go. I love that movie. Now, I'm going to tweak this question because other folks at the, I've interviewed have not been rock drummers. So, Jim, instead of what is your favorite karaoke song, what is the biggest crowd favorite that you get, that your audience goes crazy for, the song that just makes them go nuts every single time you play? Sweet Caroline. Really? How many times will you play it in a night? Just one. Just one, it's okay. That's, that's some discipline. That's a song. Once we start that, everybody in the crowd is start singing along. Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, everybody knows new about it. Oh, absolutely. I thought you were going to ask you about favorite drummer was. Oh, no, that's a, no, that's a good one. Who is your favorite drummer? My favorite drummer. So, I have categories. Okay. My favorite drummer of all time is Neil Peart of Rush. Okay. My favorite living drummer is Todd Sukerman with sticks. Okay. He lives in Austin, Texas. And my, the drummer that's had the most influence on me is Roger Hawkins, who was the drummer for the swamp. Sure. Sure. Just, you know, that was a, those, that group of musicians and the swampers, just amazing talent and really nobody knows who they are unless you're, you're deep in the music. And to think about it, those guys were 16, 17, and 18 years old when they were putting those tracks down. So, you listen to a, a little some picket record or if you listen to a Bob Seeger, you know, old-time rock and roll, that's the swampers on there. You know? Yeah, it absolutely is. That's the faces. All of the stuff that Roger Stewart did with faces. Yeah. You know, he hired him to go on a road with him. Yeah. The list is crazy, folks. Yeah. That those guys have built the sound for. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Jim, I've got one more question for you. And we'll go back a little ways. But Jim, what is the worst haircut you've ever had? The one I have now. What? Described that for our listeners. It's a ball. You know, I had a bowl cut when I, you know, my mom used to cut my hair with the straight bangs across when I had hair. Yep. Yep. Every mom is good for one bowl cut before you can say never again. Yeah. I'm good with this haircut. Cool. Looks good. We have been talking with Jim Desesri of the Desesri group. Jim, thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Thank you for being here in Williamsburg. It's just a pleasure to always say hello and spend a couple of minutes with you. Thanks for having me on. It's been a pleasure. Talk soon. And we're now joined with Steve Cook of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. Steve is the Chief Innovation Officer. Steve, thank you for sitting down with us. Appreciate it, Ray. Thank you for having us. I think you're on your home turf here in Williamsburg, Virginia. Pretty much. This has been a great SCDC conference so far. What do you think about the conference? Hey, it's been a fantastic conversation right now. It's always great to catch up with a lot of our colleagues from across the South. So we look forward to having this here this year. We've been planning it for some time and glad that it's been going along really well. So it's been a great introduction for a lot of our SCDC members to be here in Virginia. Steve, as I mentioned, you're the Chief Innovation Officer with Hampton Roads Workforce Council. So tell us a little bit about your organization. Yeah, thanks. Well, we are the Workforce Development Board for this part of Virginia. And as many of you know, workforce development boards are all over in every state. So we have a number of them here in Virginia. We've got 15 workforce development boards. And in Hampton Roads, we represent the largest workforce of our development board in the Commonwealth. What that means, really, bottom line is making sure that our industry, our companies in the region, have the talent that they need to succeed. And we do that a variety of different ways. We've got different pillars that we work in. By far, the biggest one is our general career centers in Hampton Roads where we see the general population that's looking for ways to get back in the workforce if they would displace for some reason if they're coming off of a layoff. They can come to our centers and get the coaching, get the resources that they're going to need to get back into the into a business or a profitable job. Sure. So those are different ways. I mean, we've got a strong youth services program that we're in schools and making sure that kids are being given the opportunities to figure out what type of industry sectors they want to be in and will work with those folks as they're making that transition. We also have a very strong military program. So if you know anything about Hampton Roads, you know that we are military-centric. We've got the world's largest Navy base here. We've got a lot of government contract and of course we're home to Newport News shipbuilding and they build the only place that builds the aircraft carriers in the country, the nuclear aircraft carriers in the country and one of two places that build the nuclear submarine. So a lot of maritime activity going on that we really work hard to make sure that talent is there to provide for sure. Well, share with us what are some of the real success stories that you've had over the recently? Yeah, I think I'm going to keep along those maritime related discussions. Last year we won an EDA Goodjobs Grant that was really centered around building and figuring out where our talent lies in the region. The gaps that are from our education in two industries. So figuring out what those gaps are and how we're training our kids, our young folks, to get into that industry. It was a great win for Hampton Roads, a great win for the Commonwealth. We were one of only 31 organizations that got this. And it really was all about collaboration. We had a lot of partners from our community colleges, colleges, organizations like the Urban League, all part of this effort. And we got outside of our boundaries. So it wasn't just about Hampton Roads. We reached up into the Eastern Shore part of Virginia, which is outside, technically outside of our region, to get there and they're very close by. They've got great community college, so we work with them to be part of this effort. And then we went into Northeast North Carolina. And that's not very common across state boundaries, but they were full on board with this process. They understand that there's a lot of activity going on. And a lot of their people go across borders to work in this industry in Virginia and Hampton Roads. And so that was a big win for the region and for the state. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you. We're talking with Steve Cook. He's the Chief Innovation Officer of Hampton Roads Workforce Council. Well, Steve, tell us what's the next 24 or 36 months look like for Hampton Roads and for Steve? So touched on them every time. We've kind of got that where we wanted. And we've got a lot of dollars coming in. As I said from different grants. We've got the Navy very interested in that as we are starting to make sure that the talent pipelines are there. You heard Jason talk about the building blocks of an ecosystem. And so that's what all of these dollars really have done for the region and Virginia and quite frankly the nation. Now we're going to kind of turn towards other high demand industries. So we've got, you know, health care is a huge industry all over the place. And there's definitely a deficit of people working in those industries. So we're going to start focusing in and do what we did with maritime and hopefully mimic that in the health care industry. Sure. We've also got high tech here in the region. And so we're very much involved in IT, cybersecurity, you know, for obvious reasons with the military component here. Not only Hampton Roads but Virginia. So we're working on building up that industry as well. And so those are probably the two main focus areas coming down the road. We've got a lot of activity around grants and what we want to do and there and, you know, applying for some of those types of things like the tech hub that you heard about earlier. Right. So we've got an initiative here in a region that's looking at that in the autonomous world. And so we've got, you know, things along those pathways that we're really focused on now. Excellent. Excellent. We have been talking with Steve Cook of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. Steve, let's close it out by asking some questions and playing favorites. Okay. Steve, what is your favorite holiday? My favorite holiday? I would say Christmas. Okay. Yep. What is your favorite dessert? Oh my gosh. My last name's Cook. I've been called Cookie for a long time. Chocolate Cookies have always been my favorite. But Pecan pie is also a strong one. That said well from a Southern point of view. That is correct. What is your favorite movie? The first one that popped in mind was Shawshank Redemption. Yeah. I'm with you. I said the same exact thing. Yeah. That's a good one to go with. Now, Steve, maybe this is your secret side. What is your favorite karaoke song? Man. Oh my gosh. Well, I... Trailers for sale or rent. That's not the one I sang most recently, but that's the one I've sang for a long time. It's an easy one. Good, good. All right. We're going to flip it just for our last question. Steve, what is the worst haircut you've ever had? Oh my gosh. Probably the, you know, the traditional bowl cut when I was a younger kid. I think my mom probably did that. I was going to ask if mom was involved. Yeah. Mom was definitely involved. I've given a bad haircut to my son, and he was, you know, never lets me forget about it. So... We have been talking with Steve Cook. He's the chief and chief innovation officer, Hampton Roads Workforce Council. Steve, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Have a great rest of your Tuesday here in Williamsburg, Virginia. So good to spend some time with you. Thank you, Ray. Welcome to Hampton Roads, and hope you all enjoy it as well. Oh, we're loving it. We are loving it. Take care. Thanks. And we're joined now, folks, by Daniel Sweat, with the City of Wolfruth, Texas. Daniel is the Director of Economic Development. Daniel, welcome to the podcast, and thanks for joining us. Hi, good morning, Ray. How are you today? Doing great. How are you? Too good. Right, early on a Tuesday morning here in Williamsburg, Virginia. How has your conference been so far? It's been amazing. Met a lot of really cool people, and seen a lot of really cool things. Nice. Nice. Let's start by telling our... Please tell us about Wolfruth, Texas. So, Wolfruth, Texas is a town of about 56-centre people, right outside of Lubbock and West Texas. Okay. And we have been mostly a bedroom community that has centered around a wonderful independent school district, and we are growing so fast we can't even see straight. Wow. What is pushing that growth? So, I think a lot of it is Lubbock is doing great. The Lubbock Economic Development Alliance there is doing fantastic things. And so, in that case, our community is growing because of that. I think our school district is a huge drive. We have a lot of great continuing education programs out of our ISD that is feeding into our universities and our colleges. And I think a lot of people love the idea of the small town with a great big school. Yep. Yep. Well, I know that you are fairly new in this position and like a lot of other SEDC members, you've transitioned. Your career path has been interesting. So, tell us a little bit about your background and then tell us about what this first seven or eight months has been like. Yeah. So, I was an educator atop middle school for 19 years and was kind of looking at ways to serve my community in different aspects. And someone approached me from City Council and asked if I would be willing to do economic development in the community. They know I have a passion for our small town. I was born and raised there. And I said, sure, I'll give it a shot. And so, this is month nine. And I am really enjoying it. But I do wear a lot of hats. I am the very first economic development director for the city. And I do everything. So, I am the only one in my department. So, BRE and Entrepreneurship and all of the good things they are all mine. Yep, yep. What's exciting on the, what do you have on the horizon that's got you fired up? So, we are a lot of retail being a small bedroom community. We do have some industrial type things. But it seems that we have a lot of interest in doing some development to add in retail and make quality of life a lot better for people in the city of Woolford. Even though downtown Lubbock is nine minutes away, I think people are looking for how can I spend locally within the community. And so, we've had a couple of developers come forward recently and say, hey, would you like a new shopping center? I said, well, of course. And so, that's some exciting things we're looking forward to is getting some new quality of life retail in our community. Yeah. And this is probably a topic that a lot of our SIDs and members would relate to what is your experience like having to navigate working with Lubbock, working coordinating and cooperating with a lot of different organizations? Yes. So, that was one of the things I was tasked with whenever I was hired was building the relationships with Lubbock Economic Development Alliance. And I immediately jumped in with emails and had lunch with some people out there and started building that bond with Leeda. And then also with our Chamber of Commerce in Lubbock. We do not have a Chamber of Commerce in Woolford. And so, immediately, I started working with the CEO of the Lubbock Chamber and talked about how can we support our local businesses in Woolford. And building those relationships has been important because they have the structure that Woolford doesn't yet have. And they have been a fantastic partner and shoulder to lean on for me. Good. That sounds great. That sounds great. This is your first SIDC conference. Yes, it is. Well, give our members who aren't here a takeaway. What have you really liked about the conference? What I have really liked is something new that they've added this year was the young professionals which I don't fall in the young category, but I fall in the new category. And so, they had for the young professionals on Sunday an opportunity for us to get to meet each other and talk about what the Southern Economic Development does for us as an industry. Provided a little bit of an open bar. So, that was a little fun. So, that was good. And I think just getting to listen to what other states are doing for incentives and how they are bringing people in. And even though we know we're competitors, we also know that we have the pride of the South that we are relying on. And so, I've really enjoyed getting to hear just the different aspects and how people are doing things outside of the state of Texas. And plus, I love the idea of traveling outside of Texas and I've never been to Virginia and this is a beautiful state. It is. So, I've really enjoyed getting to do some tourist things while I'm here. Good. So, you'll be back to an SIDC conference. Yes, yes, I will. Perfect. We are talking with Daniel Sweat with the City of Wolfruth, Texas. Daniel is the Director of Economic Development. Daniel, it's been great spinning a couple of minutes with you and learning about Wolfruth now. Can I ask you a handful of questions? Okay. We're going to play favorites. Okay. Daniel Sweat, what is your favorite holiday? Oh, goodness. I think my favorite holiday is Christmas. Okay. What is your favorite dessert? Oh, um, Pecan pie. Ooh, that's a Southern. Yeah, that's a Southern girl talking. Perfect. What is your favorite movie? Oh, goodness. I think my favorite movie is probably Top Gun. Okay. The original, not the... The original. There we go. Alright. And what is your favorite karaoke song? Oh, this is embarrassing. Oh, back in my 20s, it was definitely Deaf Leopard for some sugar on me. Nice. I can... Yep. I've got it. I've got it. Alright. Final question. We're going to take a little bit of a turn. Daniel, what is the worst haircut you've ever had? Oh, my gosh. Back in the 80s, my mom was a hairdresser and she gave me that Dorothy Hamill bowl-looking haircut. It was absolutely disastrous. Folks, we have been talking with Daniel Sweat. It Wolfruth, Texas. Daniel, thank you for spending a few minutes with us. It's been great to see you here in Williamsburg. And have a good rest of the conference. Awesome. Thank you, Ray. Thanks.