Economic Development Advisory Board

Agendas & Minutes

Public Participation

Advisory board meetings operate on a hybrid system. Public participants are welcome to attend in person or listen a video conferencing platform.

Members of the public can address the Board in the following ways:

  • Speak in person - Participants may complete a blue speaker/comment card upon arrival at the meeting or download a copy of comment card(PDF, 48KB) and provide to City Staff prior to the start of the meeting.

  • Speak via video conferencing platform – Persons attending a meeting virtually may speak on a specific agenda item only.

For help with the online comment card, or for any other technical difficulties, please call 480-644-2099.

Board Members

The Economic Development Advisory Board shall act as the advisory board to the Mesa City Council on matters pertaining to economic development, including goal setting, strategic planning, marketing and business recruitment, retention and expansion.

The membership of the Economic Development Advisory Board shall include: nine (9) voting members who are residents of Mesa and up to eight (8) ex-officio non-voting members. Three (3) of the ex-officio members shall be the Mayor, City Manager, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, and five (5) may be City of Mesa representatives that are currently sitting on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Board of Directors.

The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council for staggered terms of three (3) years. All terms shall terminate on June 30 of the applicable year. No member shall serve more than two (2) complete consecutive terms; however, a member may be reappointed after the lapse of one (1) year from the ending of the previous term.

Board Member Role Date Appointed Term Expires
J. Steven Beck
 President & Associate Broker,
COBE Real Estate
 Voting Member
Partial Term
 7/1/25 6/30/26
Kurt D. Ferstl
Senior Counsel, Mesa Site & Attack Programs,
The Boeing Company		 Vice Chair
Voting Member
Partial Term
 4/18/24 6/30/26
Michelle Genereux
Manager, Land Rights Management
Salt River Project
 Chair
Voting Member
1st Term
 7/1/23
 6/30/26
Charles Gregory
 President Emeritus, Benedictine University		 Voting Member
1st Term		 7/1/25 6/30/28
Vacant Voting Member
1st Term		 7/1/23 6/30/26
Anthony Ruiz
 Senior Associate, EDGE Realty Partners		 Voting Member
Partial Term		 4/3/25 6/30/27
Frank Sanders
Corporate Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Intel Corporation		 Voting Member
1st Term
  7/1/24 6/30/27
Andrew Schreiner
President / General Manager,
Nammo Defense Systems Inc.		 Voting Member
Partial Term		 7/1/25 6/30/26
Susan Stephensen
Local Government Affairs Director,
HonorHealth		 Voting Member
1st Term		 7/1/25 6/30/28
Mark Freeman
Mayor, City of Mesa		 Ex-Officio Member

Scott Butler
City Manager, City of Mesa		 Ex-Officio Member

Sally Harrison
President & CEO, Mesa Chamber of Commerce		 Ex-Officio Member

Richard Blake
 Senior Supply Chain / Commodity Director, 
Virgin Galactic		 Ex-Officio Member

Sonny Cave
Retired, ON Semiconductor Corporation		 Ex-Officio Member

Natascha Ovando-Karadsheh
Associate Broker/Owner, KOR Properties		 Ex-Officio Member

Mark Drayna
 Retired, FUJIFILM Electronic Chemicals		 Ex-Officio Member

Contact

Jaye O'Donnell
Economic Development Director
City of Mesa
jaye.odonnell@mesaaz.gov

 

Phone

480-644-2398

 

City Code

Meetings

First Tuesday of each month

7:30am

Office of Economic Development
120 N. Center Street

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