Bob Westover serves as senior vice president and an economic incentives practice leader for Colliers International in Chicago. In his role, Bob works across North America to negotiate and secure local and state economic credits and incentives for our clients.

Prior to joining Colliers, Bob served as senior vice president at CresaPartners LLC.  He joined Cresa in 2016 after spending over 11 years as director of economic development with the State of Illinois Department of Commerce, where his primary responsibilities were in business development, vetting all in-bound economic incentive requests for the legitimacy of each business case and determining the appropriate awards.

Prior to his time with the State of Illinois, he served as a director of corporate development for Steris Corporation, where he led a team in the assessment of potential corporate acquisitions, closing several global deals with a market value of over $500 million. He also worked at A.T. Kearney as an associate in the strategic services group.

Economic Incentives Negotiations

University of Michigan
Miami University (Ohio)

Jay Garner is the president and founder of Garner Economics, LLC, an economic development and site location consulting practice headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. Jay is a leader and innovator in the economic development profession, having served for more than 40 years as both an award-winning economic development, Chamber of Commerce CEO, and site location professional. His firm assists clients throughout the world on a wide variety of projects, offering innovative, yet real-world solutions to achieve success.

Jay often lectures and provides counsel on creating and implementing proactive global business development strategies and tactics. His firm is also a leader in providing assistance to corporate clients in their site selection process, such as Anchor Glass, Academy Sports, Hatfield Quality Meats, Hill’s Pet Foods, Marel Food Systems, EGR Automotive, Future Pipe Industries and others. He is a founding member and past chair of the board for the Site Selectors Guild, Inc., a prestigious group of the top site location consultants, globally. Jay is also a past chairman for the International Economic Development Council, the largest economic development professional trade organization in the world. He is a co-author of the Amazon bestseller Economic Development Is Not For Amateurs!, now in its 2^nd edition; a must-read book for community leaders on how to achieve economic development success.

Jay is a graduate of West Virginia University with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration degrees.  He is also a graduate of both the Economic Development Course at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma, where he is an instructor in international prospecting. Jay has led over 25 trade and business development missions on four continents leading to the creation of thousands of jobs and several billion dollars in capital investment.  He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a Fellow Member and an Honorary Life Member, the three highest professional designations awarded to those in the economic development profession by the International Economic Development Council.  He is also a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), a professional designation awarded to Chamber professionals by the Association for Chamber of Commerce Executives. 

In 2009, the readers of Southern Business & Development magazine named Garner Economics as one of the best consulting firms in the U.S. In 2015, the same publication listed Jay as one of the “Ten people who made a difference” in economic development. As a practitioner, Jay was selected as one of ten outstanding leaders in economic development in the United States for six consecutive years by Site Selection magazine while leading the economic development program in Mobile, AL.  The mayor and city council of Mobile declared July 29, 1994 as “Jay Garner Day” in the city for his nine years of exemplary service as chief economic development officer for the city/county. As CEO of the Asheville, NC Chamber of Commerce, the organization became the first Chamber in the U.S. to win a Quality Award by the North Carolina Quality Foundation based on the national Malcolm Baldrige criteria.  He was honored in both 2002 and 2003 by his alma mater, West Virginia University with Distinguished Alumnus Awards within the Department of Political Science and the following year, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

An avid jazz drummer, he plays in a big band jazz orchestra in the Atlanta area.

General site selection, General Manufacturing, Food Manufacturing, International Prospecting

Drummer in a jazz band, golf, pickleball

West Virginia University

Matt Szuhaj has over thirty years of experience in domestic and international site selection and development, specializing in global deployment strategy, market entry, footprint optimization, operating model design, supply chain strategy, real estate and site evaluations, infrastructure review, operating costs/conditions analysis, and business incentive and entitlement negotiations.

Matt has managed and performed global strategies for numerous corporate clients across the functional spectrum including manufacturing, distribution operations, shared service centers, data centers, R&D facilities, and headquarters projects throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In addition to his location strategy experience, Matt has conducted many economic development strategies including country/community asset and liability analyses, target industry evaluations, site and infrastructure readiness evaluations, military facility reuse strategies, business attraction strategies, innovation strategies, incentive/entitlement/regulatory strategies, and economic development organizational design and governance.

Manufacturing, distribution operations, shared service centers, data centers, R&D facilities, and headquarters projects.

Skiing and wine

Purdue University
Indiana University

As a senior site selection consultant, Meghan advises companies on making informed location strategy decisions that drive growth and success. She takes the time to learn the client’s process, key drivers, preferences, and risks to address their location, logistics, workforce, and incentive needs and, ultimately, reach their goals.

From small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and state, local, and global projects, Meghan has a passion for location strategy and its impact on communities large and small. She brings nearly a decade of economic development experience to GLS, working at the Small Business Development Center in Orlando, Enterprise Florida, and Highlands County’s Economic Development Department.

Meghan holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and an MBA from the University of Central Florida. Meghan has a beloved Goldendoodle named Gunther and enjoys jigsaw puzzles, true crime podcasts, baking, and exploring her new home in South Carolina. In addition, Meghan is known for her love of Elton John, having seen him in concert twelve times across the globe.

Small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and state, local, and global projects.

Jigsaw puzzles, true crime podcasts, baking, and exploring her new home in South Carolina. 

University of Central Florida

Mr. Schneider has over 30 years of management consulting and advisory experience in the fields of corporate global location strategy, and economic development strategy. Phil spent seven years with Fantus Consulting, followed by 18 years with Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy & Operations practice where he led their Global Location and Economic Development Strategy practice. He is currently the President of Schneider Strategy Consulting LLC, where he continues to provide strategic advisory services. Mr. Schneider is a Board Member and past President and Chairman of the Board for the Site Selectors Guild, the professional association of the world’s leading corporate location strategy consultants. Phil has conducted nearly 400 consulting engagements across industries and corporate functions, including manufacturing, high technology, headquarters, R&D, logistics centers, call centers, and shared services operations.

For his corporate clients, Mr. Schneider’s services have included:

• Developing corporate location strategy and selection decision process;
• Analyzing countries, states, and cities to identify optimal locations meeting specific company and project criteria; • Conducting primary research and field due diligence to evaluate talent markets, infrastructure, support services, living conditions, and other business climate and cost issues;
• Developing operating cost and business conditions benchmarking models; and,
• Creating negotiation strategy and government support and real estate acquisition.

Mr. Schneider has conducted corporate location strategy projects throughout the US and the world. Mr. Schneider has also advised numerous national, state, provincial, city, public/private, and utility economic development agencies . Mr. Schneider has authored numerous articles and white papers on the topics of corporate location strategy, foreign direct investment, and economic development, is a regular speaker and facilitator at conferences, forums, and round tables focused on these topics. Newspapers and business publications frequently interview him as a subject matter expert. Mr. Schneider earned both his BA and Masters degrees from the University of Wisconsin after serving six years in the US Navy.

Manufacturing, high technology, headquarters, R&D, logistics centers, call centers, and shared services operations

Hiking, Forest/Land restoration, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers

University of Wisconsin