Who we are
We're an economic development and strategic planning consultancy, enthusiastically helping places, organizations, and leaders be more competitive, more collaborative and more successful.
About Economic Leadership
Economic Leadership's ability to help our clients is enriched by the broad nature of our work and dedication to relationships and success. Our clients include state and local governments, public and private companies, academia, economic development organizations, non-profits and more.
Over the last ten years, our consultancy has provided strategic planning, analysis and counsel to hundreds of clients, bolstered by decades of experience in state and local economic development, real estate, planning, organizational management, public affairs and analytics. The convergence of this skill set has created an incredible resource for our clients to achieve success.
Meet Our Team
Ted Abernathy, CEcD
Founder and Managing Partner
Kendall Abernathy
Partner
Kat Saunders
Partner and Head of Strategy and Leadership
Greg Payne
Vice President
Skylar Elliot Casey
Director of Research and Chief Data Nerd
Carly Kirkman
Client Services Manager
Casey Steinbacher
Project Manager
Testimonials
“Economic Leadership’s work on manufacturing competitiveness is unparalleled. We have partnered with the organization for six years to publish the ‘Virginia MFG Competitiveness Index’ and highly recommend their services.”
“Ted is truly the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of economic development consultants. He has so many different talents it is hard to know where to begin. He is an awesome speaker. He is a great writer. He is a deep thinker and strategist. He is a superb problem solver. Best of all he is a pragmatist and knows how to get things done. I’ve worked with him in multiple settings, and he always delivers!”
“We were very pleased that Economic Leadership and their team have, finally, given us direction for the years to come. The Economic Development Strategic Plan process and results were just what we needed.”
“I have had the pleasure of working with Ted Abernathy and his team from Economic Leadership for well over a decade. The level of service and attention to detail consistently exceed the Johnston County Economic Development Office and Board’s expectations. Their work, time and time again, provides our organization with robust and thorough analyses that help us achieve optimal decisions.”
“Everything Economic Leadership has done with us has delivered real value for our members and policymakers. First-rate company, always do more than you expect.”
“Ted Abernathy and his team at Economic Leadership have done an exceptional job guiding our regional leaders through a visioning process with eye-opening data and realistic expectations to create an economic competitiveness plan that will help us better compete for jobs and talent in the future.”
