2023 MEDA Fall Conference

Secretary Kevin Anderson is a business executive who has extensive experience in economic and community development as well as public service. He was named by Governor Wes Moore as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce in January 2023.
Anderson is the founder & CEO of Cardinal Atlantic Holdings, an economic and community development firm targeting scaled social impact and investment in urban centers. With specializations in real estate and education technology, CAH advises funds, corporations and governments on economic and community development strategy and projects.
Anderson previously served as Senior Vice President for Global Partnerships at EVERFI, Inc., an educational software company for financial literacy and life skills education where he led government relations and conducted business development. Anderson helped create and launch the company’s diversity content while securing public and corporate partnerships to support digital innovation in school districts across America. A SaaS company, Anderson helped lead EVERFI’s growth from 32 employees to over 600, and from $6mm in revenue to over $120mm during his tenure.
Before joining EVERFI, Anderson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of City First Homes, Inc. – a $6 million community land trust created to support workforce housing and ensure ongoing affordability for working families in the District of Columbia. Launched in 2008 as the District’s most aggressive affordable housing initiative, City First Homes navigated the financial crisis stabilizing mixed income development and created over 100 units of affordable housing.
Prior to his appointment at City First Homes, Anderson was Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Equity Capital at the Jair Lynch Companies, Inc., a for-profit real estate and community development firm in Washington, D.C. He was responsible for the financial management of JLC’s public, corporate and real estate ventures. Anderson helped establish JLC’s initial investment fund, a $120 million facility for commercial and housing development in the DMV region.
In 2000, Anderson served in Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’ administration as Special Assistant to the City Administrator and Chief of Staff at the D.C. Department of Transportation. He helped usher an era of accountability and transparency in city operations and managed the restructuring of DDOT to a cabinet-level agency. Anderson led the hiring of over 100 new employees, the establishment of a local trust fund for street and infrastructure maintenance and implementation of performance metrics to meet citizen needs. Mayor Anthony A. Williams proclaimed March 31, 2004 “Kevin Anderson Day” in the District of Columbia.
Anderson began his professional career at the investment banking firm of Pryor, McClendon, Counts & Co., Inc. in Philadelphia, PA as an Institutional Bond Salesman. He served pension funds, insurance companies, investment advisers, and money center banks. Anderson provided coverage for PMC’s landmark financings as lead manager for the $320 million Atlanta Hartsfield Airport financing and the $390 million Denver Airport financing.
Anderson is the former Chairperson of the NEA Foundation’s Board of Directors (National Education Association), and recently completed 19 years of service on the Board of Trustees of Lawrence Academy. He is a member of Leadership Greater Washington’s Class of 2006 and Leadership Prince George’s Class of 2008. Anderson has held and holds professional licenses and designations in securities trading, commodity futures trading, and economic development finance. He has also prepared financial reports for expert testimony in D.C. Superior Court and local jurisdictions.
A native of Washington, D.C., Anderson graduated from Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA. He holds a BA in Economics from Stanford University, and has completed finance, leadership, and executive education at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University, and the National Development Council. Anderson lives in Upper Marlboro, MD with his wife, The Honorable Tiffany H. Anderson, daughter, Kendall, and twin sons, Kennedy and Kolby.

Kevin Atticks was appointed Acting Secretary of Agriculture on Jan. 18, 2023 and sworn in as Secretary on March 2, 2023. Prior to his appointment, Atticks was CEO (and founder) of Grow & Fortify, a company supporting value-added agricultural organizations and the businesses they represent. Grow & Fortify published the first assessment of the state’s value-added agricultural industry, illustrating the expansive impact generated by this sector, which includes wineries, creameries, meat processing, agritourism, equine and dozens of other industry segments.

Atticks was also the Executive Director of the Maryland Wineries Association, Brewers Association of Maryland and the Maryland Distillers Guild, and served as the President of the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council, and the Chair of the WineAmerica State & Regional Associations Advisory Council.​

Atticks formerly served on the University of Maryland College of Agriculture’s Global Leadership Council, the board of Future Harvest and the board of the Maryland Tourism Coalition.​

Originally from Bowie, Maryland, Atticks graduated with a journalism degree from Loyola University Maryland. Shortly thereafter, Atticks received a master’s degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. He later earned his doctorate in communications design from University of Baltimore. He holds a faculty position at Loyola University Maryland.​

Alexander K. Austin, is a results-driven and dynamic business leader, offering 20 (+) years expertise in diverse fields ranging from, Workforce Development, Business Acquisitions/Advisory Services, Business to Consumer solutions & Entrepreneurship.
Alexander is the President and CEO of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit organization representing the businesses of Prince George’s County. Operating as one of the largest chambers in the state of Maryland and the Washington Metropolitan region.

Known as an Intrapreneurial & Entrepreneurial Leader! Alexander has created a unique portfolio of diverse skills and achievements ranging from creating new- products & services for the local market, owning operating a professional sports franchise, publishing a book, as well as advising mid-market company acquisition and capital raise strategies.
Alexander has also worked within organizations to contribute to their organic growth, building and scaling new innovative projects that impact the local business community. For his work and commitment, Alexander has been featured within the Washington Business Journal, Baltimore Sun, The Washington Informer and PG Suite magazine.

Having been born and raised in Prince George’s County, Alexander is passionate about the counties continued growth and advancement. As a native Prince Georgian, he is focused and committed to bridging the gap, aligning the efforts of the business community, representing one voice for Prince George’s County Businesses.

He is a family man, happily married to his wife Candice and proud father to his three wonderful children, Jordan, Savannah and Xavier. Whenever he’s off professional duties, he enjoys exercising, creating new business idea’s and spending time with Family.

His Belief – “Family is the nucleus of success”
His Life’s Motto – “We are only bound by the limits of our own conviction,” – Robert F Smith.

As the CEO and President of Strouse Corporation, Sue Chambers is responsible for leading all facets of the business. Sue has a proven executive management track record and over 250 years of experience driving sales growth and operational innovation in the adhesive conversion industry. Sue possesses strong leadership, strategic vision, and savvy marketing skills and has an MBA from Loyola University in Maryland.

Since 1997 Sue Chambers joined Strouse and led the transformation into an enterprise-focused company while growing the company into a world leader in the innovative production of pressure sensitive adhesive solutions. This is accomplished by offering a diverse manufacturing capability for precision die cutting of pressure sensitive adhesives, allowing to solve adhesive applications in virtually every market. Strouse has also achieved ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certification and under Sue’s leadership and vision, has grown to a brand new 70,000 sq. ft state of art manufacturing facility in Westminster, Maryland.

Sue is active in the community presently serving as: Chair, Industrial Development Authority, Member of the Maryland Manufacturing Advisory Board; and Board Member, LifeBridge Health. Sue was a past Commissioner, Maryland Economic Development Commission. Also earning several business awards over the years. Most recently 3M has recognized Strouse as a supplier of the year. She is also on the Dale Chambers Foundation Board that raises money for local charities in the community.

With annual growth goals set at 20%, the future looks promising for Strouse to build a. technical innovation advantage and implement a continuous improvement plan to improve processes, customer satisfaction, and employee skills. Positioned as an industry innovator the current focus of Strouse is the investment in Robotics. Chambers and the entire Strouse team know that the “Best of Strouse is yet to come”.

My name is Sarah Jones and I am the Career Coordinator at Carroll County Career and Technology Center. I have 19 years of teaching experience with high school students in Carroll County. In my role as Career Coordinator, I work to connect students with workplace experiences that will help them develop work-readiness skills. I am working towards achieving my Work Based Learning Endorsement through UMES, which will further the skills needed to support my students. When not working with high school students, I am a mom of two children and a wife to a fellow high school educator.

Maureen Donohue Krauss serves as the President and CEO of the Detroit Regional Partnership (DRP), a leading regional economic development nonprofit serving the Detroit 11-county region.
Krauss is an accomplished Economic Development Officer with a demonstrated history of leadership in economic development, non-profit, and government, in addition to extensive experience in guiding international companies to successful location decisions and growth in the United States.
Prior to her role at the Detroit Regional Partnership, Krauss was elected as the first Chief Economic Development Officer at the Indy Chamber, where she managed Accelerate Indy, a regional economic development plan announced by the Indianapolis Chamber.
While working at the Indianapolis Chamber, Krauss was responsible for providing leadership on programs and initiatives encouraging innovation and helping enhance business growth and acceleration. She focused on a nine-county region, with 2.3 million people, and 83 governments and municipalities as well as led the Amazon HQ2 bid for Indianapolis, resulting in the region becoming a finalist in the national competition.
Her journey as an economic development leader didn’t start in Indy. Before joining the Indy Chamber, Krauss served as Vice President of Economic Development and Business Attraction at the Detroit Regional Chamber. She was responsible for strategy, operations, and projects of the Chamber’s Business Attraction program, a key part of the Chamber’s economic development program portfolio.
She also worked for Oakland County Department of Economic Development and Community Affairs, an award-winning county agency for 13 years, where she led a team of over 100 staff — often traveling overseas on business attraction missions. She also participated in more than 60 trade missions in the past 18 years and continues to advance within the economic development space by serving on numerous boards and committees.
Board and Membership Timeline
• Krauss served as the President of the Michigan Economic Developers Association, along with serving three terms on the MEDA board.

• She is an active member of the German-American and French-American Chamber of Commerce and is on the Board of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of Detroit, the Italian-American Business and Technology Council, and the British-American Business Council.

Awards and Recognitions
• Past recipient of the Arizona Economic Developer of the Year Award
• Received the Mike Conboy Professional Development Award from the Michigan Economic Developer’s Association
• Coordinated the development of platforms for marketing the region and led the region’s Top 20 Amazon HQ2 proposal.
• Has more than 30 years of experience in economic development.

Education
• Krauss earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Albion College and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan. She is also a graduate of Leadership Detroit Class 30.

Latrice Lewis is a Senior Business Development Specialist with Frederick County Workforce Services a proud partner of The American Job Center Network! She has over 15 years in Business Development and Career & Workforce Development. She has a unique perspective on Workforce and Economic Development having spent time in both private and public sector positions, as well as the Frederick County Public School system.
Latrice’s primary focus is partnering with the Frederick County (FC) business community to assist with their workforce development needs: recruitment, staff development/training and LMI. She works with small-to-very large organizations in the FC community. She also works closely with an under-served population in our community of Justice-Involved citizens.
Latrice has had opportunities to share her expertise with such organizations as the United Way of Fredrick County, The Local Management Board (Office of Children & Families), Trainer for the MEDA Chesapeake Basic Economic Development Course, Hood College Leadership Program, Mountain Manor Treatment Center, as well as FCPS and local colleges – she has earned a reputation for being a “Trusted Business Advisor” in the Frederick County community.
Latrice is passionate about serving the Frederick County community and ensuring both businesses and citizens are aware of all the resources available to maximize their success.

Meash believes that economic development is the solution to most of the challenges facing any community.

As a municipal economic developer, he’s convened roundtables to address imminent workforce development challenges; produced radio, television, and digital advertising for business attraction as well as retail marketing; and authored legislation to reformat and reconstitute the Main Street America program in Taneytown. He sincerely believes in engaging with collaborators from across Maryland and across the country, and he is always ready to discuss Taneytown!

In his free time, find him cooking, at the theater, traveling, or doing the New York Times crossword puzzle.

Christopher G. Miller took office as the Mayor of Taneytown on Monday, May 8, 2023. Since then, he has prioritized direct, honest communication with residents and collaboration at all levels of government. A former small business owner and Air Force veteran, Mayor Miller has master’s degrees in business administration and health services adminstration. He is pleased to host economic developers from across the State of Maryland and looks forward to engaging with them in coming years.

Cheryl Riviere has been working in youth development, job training programs, and community safety initiatives for at-risk youth, adults, and families in Baltimore City for the past 25 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international studies from Morgan State University. Ms. Riviere started her career as an Adult Basic Education, Case Manager, and Job Readiness instructor for adults and young mothers ages 16-21. From then on, she worked with youth and adults providing Adult Basic Education and job readiness instruction. In 2000, she started working with the Youth Opportunity Program in which she worked with youth aged 16-21 who lived in Baltimore City Empowerment Zones. After two years as the ABE/GED instructor, she was promoted to the center site director and the Youth Center, the first of its kind in the southwest community of Baltimore, was one of the top performing youth programming in the city. This was due to her ability to creatively find innovative programming which engaged the youth, their families, and the community. In 2008 she started working at Living Classrooms Foundation and held the positions of assistant director and program director of the Fresh Start Program which is a program that provides vocational, academic, and life skills training to adjudicated young males and females ages 16-19. The program utilized woodworking as a medium to teach a variety of skills to young males. In 2019, she was promoted to Managing Director of Workforce Development for the Foundation, where she manages its portfolio of workforce development and community public safety programming.

Ed Rothstein is in his second term as County Commissioner. Ed’s diverse thirty-plus year military career included numerous deployments along with multiple duty stations including his last military assignment as Garrison Commander at Fort Meade in Maryland. He was Economic Developer for Anne Arundel County before founding ERA Advisory LLC which is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business focused on giving back to the community. Most recently serving as Executive Director for the BWI Business Partnership, he also serves on multiple boards of directors for non-profits within the region and state, and previously served on the Carroll County Veterans Advisory Council. Ed’s education includes an Education Degree from Lock Haven University, a Masters in Human Resources from Webster University and a Masters in National Resource Management from Eisenhower School for National Security. At Lock Haven, Ed was a member of the Division I wrestling team and was commissioned through the ROTC Program. Ed resides in Eldersburg with his wife Audrey and two children Emily and Sam.

District 5 covers the southeastern portion of Carroll County. It includes Eldersburg and the town of Sykesville.

Jennifer currently serves as Director of Human Resources for H&S Family of Bakeries. In this role, she manages a network of 10 bakeries and multiple distribution centers along the East Coast. H&S Family of Bakeries includes Northeast Foods, H&S Bakery and Schmidt Baking Co. Together, H&S baked goods can be found in a wide range of establishments, from fast food and quick-service restaurants to cafeterias, hospitals, grocery stores and universities. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience in the fields of human resources and organizational management. Jennifer received her Master of Science from the University of Maryland and holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Innovation from the University of Phoenix.

She serves on the Board of Directors for Maryland Works and holds an appointed seat on the Advisory Stakeholders Group on Autism Related Needs (ASGARN) for the State of Maryland.

President, Tulkoff Food Products since January 2005
• Employment History
o Tulkoff Food Products 18 years
o Swales Aerospace 2.5 years; Business manager aerospace products division
o Aronson, Fetridge & Weigle 3 years; Partner – computer consulting
o Peak Computer Solutions, Inc. 7 years; co-founder
o Swales & Associates – Thermal Engineer 7 years
o NASA/GSFC; Thermal Engineer 2.5 years
• Education
o Loyola College – MBA Finance concentration
o Bucknell University – BS Mechanical Engineering
• Professional & community involvement
o Prior Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Board member and Chairman (2 years chairman, 2 years member)
o Prior Member of the Regional Manufacturers Institute (RMI) Board
o Prior Member of the Maryland Manufacturers Advisory Board
o Valor Service Dogs Board Member
o Prior Volunteer for Big Brothers program
o Member of the board of the Baltimore Museum of Industry
o Board member of the Maryland World Class Consortia
o EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist 2015
o Pets On Wheels Volunteer
o Sheppard Pratt Volunteer