Economic Development Training I Faculty and Leadership

Admistrative Contact

Karen Romero is the Training Coordinator of the Southeast Louisiana Business Center at Southeastern Louisiana University. In her role she also serves as LSBDC’s a part time Training Coordinator.

She plans and deploys training events that help assist small business owner throughout the parishes of Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Washington, Livingston and St. Helena.

With over 20 years in leadership and combined experience in Sales and Event Planning, Karen has a passion for supporting the growth of businesses through building relationships and in the delivery of training programs and events. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing from Southeastern Louisiana University.

Office 985-549-3199

Kromero@selu.edu

Dr. Ed Bee, Academic Dean

LIDEA CLED Training Program

Ed Bee, CEcD, is President and founder of Taimerica Management Company. Taimerica is a nationally recognized consulting firm headquartered in Mandeville, Louisiana. The firm counsels development groups and businesses worldwide on issues of strategic planning, cluster and technology studies, corporate site selection,

organizational design and best practices evaluations, and economic development strategy including housing and real estate issues.

Ed offers economic development groups sophisticated but practical strategies for economic development that are executable at the regional and local level. Bee has earned a number of achievements and awards during his career, including a Distinguished Service Award conferred by the American Economic Development Council in 1994 and the Alumni of the Year Award in 2004 by the Geography Department of Youngstown State University. He has authored ten peer reviewed articles on leading edge economic development topic s in globally recognized publications such as Economic Development Quarterly, The Economic Development Journal and Economic Development Review.

As CLED Training Program Academic Dean, Ed is responsible for the overall quality of the program. He oversees the quality of course content and instruction. This involves the development of new offering for cutting edge practices, updating existing curriculum, selecting and approving faculty and advising students seeking certification on their research papers.