This article was updated on July 21, 2023.

We’re gearing up for Fiscal Year 2024 with exciting growth on the EDCUtah team.

On the executive team, Colby Cooley will assume the role of senior vice president of operations. Colby previously served as EDCUtah’s vice president of business development, where he managed a highly skilled business development team serving an average of 140 business expansion projects at any given time. In his new role, Colby will oversee EDCUtah’s business development and research verticals as well as internal operations of the company.

Erin Farr joins the executive team as she succeeds Colby as vice president of business development. Erin brings more than 10 years of management consulting, operations, and project management experience, and 6 years of direct business development experience to the role. In her new role, Erin will manage the business development team and oversee activities including project management, the Global Strategy & Outreach program, and the Know the Customer program.

Sara Adelman also joins the executive team as vice president of marketing, where she will continue to oversee EDCUtah’s brand and reputation, marketing campaigns, events, and other strategic initiatives that drive project acquisition and investor value. The primary focus of her new role will be to execute a strategic marketing plan to position EDCUtah as a source of valuable data and success stories that demonstrate how strategic job growth and capital investment contribute to prosperity and quality of life in communities across Utah.

Greta Hepworth, EDCUtah events manager, will be launching a new employee experience program in fiscal year 2024. Her vision is to build on EDCUtah’s existing organizational culture with a formal program that fosters connection and belonging among all employees. We’re excited to support Greta as she applies her experience in event planning, budget management, and team building to an important internal initiative.

Olivia Midgley will assume the role of research project manager following her role as research analyst where she supported clients and partners through the preparation of economic, workforce, real estate, and related data and information. In her new role, Olivia will lean more heavily into developing EDCUtah’s research product offerings and original content generation.”

Gerritt Vander Linden has been promoted to the role of business development manager. During the last year, Gerritt acted in the role of business development analyst, assisting  other members of the business development team and managing projects in the aerospace and defense industry. As he moves into his new role, he will continue to manage aerospace and defense projects and also take on new life science projects.

Jake Berlin, a former EDCUtah business development manager, is collaborating with our team on a temporary contract basis while we work to fill an existing business development position. Jake managed many of EDCUtah’s large industrial projects from 2017 to 2020, and his prior experience makes him a natural fit to step into this role as we look for the right candidate to fill the position permanently. Jake left EDCUtah to pursue his MBA at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and he spent the past year working in an internal strategy consulting role at 3M. He’s currently based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and will be working remotely for EDCUtah. You may contact Jake at jberlin@edcutah.org.