2025 MEDA Summer Conference

Allison Akers is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Anne Arundel based systems integrator Vision Technologies. In this role, Allison is responsible for overseeing overall marketing direction, brand management, corporate communications, and strategic growth of the company.

Allison deeply believes in giving back. Allison serves on the MEDA Board of Directors and serves as the co-chair of the MEDA Young Leaders Group. Allison also serves as Past President of the Public Relations Society of America-Chesapeake Chapter Board, is the chair of Vision Technologies’ Charity Committee as well as a committee member of the Women’s Network Employee Resource Group, is a member of Fort Meade Alliance Rising Stars, and recently finished serving on the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business Alumni Chapter Board.

Allison is passionate about economic development and celebrating successful business growth in Maryland, developed through her prior work as Marketing and Outreach Manager for Anne Arundel Economic Development. Prior work also includes Marketing and Communications Specialist for the Maryland State Judiciary, time in grassroots marketing and events management for the MD, DC, VA region for Road Runner Sports, and a brief stint in the music marketing industry. She graduated from West Virginia University in May 2022 with an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications and holds a B.S. in Marketing from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She is a proud Terp through and through.

Kit Cramer serves as CEO of the third largest chamber in North Carolina with over 1,600 members and a $4.2 million budget. The organization serves as the lead economic development agency for Buncombe County and the City of Asheville, provides a voice for business in all levels of government and serves members with professional development, connection and marketing opportunities. She has emphasized the importance of growing jobs, serving as a voice for business and helping Chamber members thrive while pursuing the Chamber’s mission of “Building Community Through Business.”
Under her leadership, the Asheville Chamber was named national Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives in 2019 and the Chamber of the Year for North Carolina by the Carolinas Association of Chamber Executives in 2018.
Prior to coming to Asheville, Cramer was president of the International Downtown Association (IDA), headquartered in Washington, DC.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Cramer is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. She and her husband, Mark, live in Swannanoa, NC, have two grown children, a daughter-in-law, two grand-cats and one grand-dog.

Camila Tapias is a strategic executive with extensive experience leading strategic communications, risk management, policy development, sustainability, and resilience initiatives across public, private, academic, and international sectors. At SPIN Global, she leads the Business & Industry and Global practice areas and directs the Community Disaster Resilience Fund, a private equity fund investing in resilient infrastructure and sustainable economic development projects worldwide. She serves on both the U.S. and Global Boards of UNDRR ARISE, the United Nations’ largest private sector alliance for disaster resilience. Camila serves on the Board of Trustees at The George Washington University, her two-time alma mater, supporting strategic leadership in higher education. She is also a former NCAA Division I basketball player.

As TEDCO’s Chief Development & Marketing Officer, Tammi Thomas is responsible for the overall strategic direction, execution and management of TEDCO’s marketing and fundraising strategies. Her leadership is instrumental towards the organization’s success in identifying, investing in, and growing Maryland-based technology and life science-based start-ups. Tammi is an award-winning communicator with more than 30 years of experience in marketing, technology, economic development, higher education, and entrepreneurship. Among other awards, she recently received the Distinguished Women Award from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland (2024) and was named one of I-95 Business’ Influential Women (2025).

She serves on the World Trade Center Institute’s CEO Council, Maryland Momentum Fund Advisory Board and President of MEDA’s Board of Directors.

Tammi earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Alabama State University and an MBA from the University of Baltimore. She takes great pride in her daughter, Sydney, who’s a nuclear engineer serving on a guided missile submarine. Go Navy!

With over 25 years of service in state and local economic development agencies, Larry has experience in economic development strategy, legislative policy, entrepreneurship, and community development.

Major areas of expertise include:

Economic development strategy
Business attraction and retention
Entrepreneurship
Small business financing
Business incentives
Disaster response and recovery
Legislative policy
Major accomplishments include facilitating strategic plans that led to the creation of over 30,000 new jobs, $2B in capital investment, and impacting over 12 million sq ft of industrial, office, and retail space. Other accomplishments include launching the Maryland Innovation Center (a 60,000 sq ft incubator, co-working, and collaboration space), leading the business recovery of Ellicott City after the 2016 and 2018 floods, and implementing a small business loan fund that has invested over $18M in over 100 businesses creating almost 900 new jobs.

He was awarded a Governor’s Citation for his role in the Ellicott City flood recovery and received two National Association of Counties (NACO) awards (2021, 2023) for innovative and effective business programs.

He currently leads an economic development practice focused on strategic planning and executive leadership and is a consultant to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration.

Larry is a Past President of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and currently serves on the Public Policy Committee and the Professional Development Committee.

He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Loyola University – Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.

Gregory Vetter is a trailblazing entrepreneur who turned a family recipe into Tessemae’s, the #1 organic salad dressing brand in the U.S., and pioneered clean food manufacturing, creating the “fresh condiment” category and Whole30’s first approved bottled dressings.

Building on that success, Gregory co-founded Alta Fresh Foods, revolutionizing the salad industry with innovative processes, as well as Quenchers Vodka Drinks and Tushees Portable Toilets, showcasing his diverse entrepreneurial spirit. He also launched Home Grown Brand Accelerator to help others build the next great American brands.

An active board member, coach, and advisor, Gregory is committed to mentoring young leaders and entrepreneurs, empowering them to dream big and execute with purpose. When he’s not building business, Greg enjoys spending time with his wife and kids on their farm.