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ERIN FLYNN
Economic Development Director
Portland Development Commission, Portland, OR
As the Urban Development Director at the Portland Development Commission, Erin Flynn drives agency strategy and directs the work of PDC’s Central City, Neighborhood, and Business & Industry Teams. Since arriving at PDC in 2007, Ms. Flynn has led a major reorganization of the agency designed to refocus PDC’s core projects and programs on economic development and job creation. Ms.Flynn has also led the development and delivery of the City of Portland Five-year Economic Development Strategy, an ambitious plan to create 10,000 new jobs in the Portland area.
Prior to joining PDC, Ms. Flynn was Vice President of FutureWorks, a Boston-based policy and strategy consulting firm focused on regional economic development. At FutureWorks, Ms. Flynn led the creation of regional growth strategies including plans for the Greater Wasatch Area (Salt Lake City), the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area and the Portland-Vancouver region. In addition, Ms. Flynn directed major national economic development initiatives including MetroBusinessNet – a multi-year network of metropolitan business leadership groups working to develop “win-win” business practices and public policies that reduce social and economic disparity while improving the business operating environment. Network members included the Bay Area Council, Chicago Metropolis 2020, the St. Louis Regional Chamber, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Austin Area Research Organization.
Ms. Flynn received her Ph.D. in Political Economy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. Her dissertation examined the decline of Massachusetts’ traditional manufacturing sector and strategies employed by small firms in response to globalization. She earned a BA in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.