Ben Loftsgaarden
Ben Loftsgaarden leads strategic engagements for clients in comprehensive economic development strategies, cluster and target industry analysis, workforce readiness, and economic impact studies. Areas of specialization include project management, facilitating public input, strategy development, securing funding to implement initiatives and improving economic development organizational effectiveness.
Before joining Greyhill, Mr. Loftsgaarden served as Senior Project Manager at AngelouEconomics where he managed many of the firm’s large, regional economic development and industry analysis projects. In addition to managing projects, he managed the firm’s staff of project managers and associates while overseeing the development of strategic planning efforts. Prior to this, Mr. Loftsgaarden was a consultant engineer in the energy industry at Schlumberger Ltd. where he managed oil exploration projects for large multinational energy companies.
Mr. Loftsgaarden has been a frequent speaker at economic development and site selection conferences and has designed and taught courses for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). He offers his insight on alternative energy topics, strategies for cluster growth and the best practices of the most effective economic development organizations. He has provided interviews to National Public Radio, the Economist, the Austin American Statesman, and the Austin Business Journal and a variety of regional print, television and radio news organizations throughout the U.S.
Mr. Loftsgaarden holds a B.S. in Bioengineering from The University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with honors from The University of Texas at Austin.