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Weekly Kiwanis Meeting
July 21, 2011
Mr. Steven W. Weathers, CEcD
President & CEO
Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA)
Steve Weathers was named President and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA) and joined the staff in November 2010.
Prior to his role at SEDA, Steve was the President and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP) since September of 2005, where he also led Rocket Ventures as its President & Managing Director. During his time at RGP, the organization assumed a leadership role that led to the creation of more than 7,200 new high-paying, high-skilled jobs in the region. Rocket Ventures, the region’s first ever pre-seed venture fund which Steve led the effort to create, grew to become a $22.5 million early-state investment fund comprised of $7.5 million of private investment capital, as well as a $15 million grant from the State of Ohio. Rocket Ventures created 77 new technology companies in a three-year period.
Steve has been in economic development for more than 20 years, with 11 of those years in San Diego, California as Vice President of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation. Through the years, Steve has been involved in the attraction retention, growth and start-up of more than 500 companies. Some of his most significant and notable successes during his economic development career have been the attraction of the Novartis Genomic Research Center, Gateway Computers headquarters, the LEGO Theme Park and the SPAWAR Defense headquarters to the San Diego region, as well as the attraction of the GEICO, Citigroup and Intuit Software national service centers to the Tucson region.
Boards and Committees:
- International Economic Development Council (IEDC)
- Metropolitan Planning Organization
- Step Up Savannah, Inc.
- United Way of the Coastal Empire
- The Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce