Board Member Spotlight
Nathan Lee
Jackson County Economic Development Authority
Nathan grew up in Northeast Alabama and entered into the United States Air Force. He then began working as a mechanic, had a career in Law Enforcement, and worked as a House Parent and a Career Coach. Through his various career opportunities, he found his way into Economic Development. While working on a Career Exploration Event for high school students, he found the opportunity to work at the Jackson County Economic Development Authority. Nathan is very involved in his community, he is the EDAA representative for the Alabama Tourism Advisory Board and holds several other positions within his community.
Nathan is the President/CEO of the Jackson County Economic Development Authority (JCEDA). He has been at JCEDA since 2017 and began as a project manager. He is charged with bringing new industry to Jackson County and creating a positive environment with existing industries throughout the county.
When Nathan started at the Jackson County EDA, the first thing his predecessor told him was that he had to join the EDAA and it was the first conference he attended at the start of his career.
A project that stands out most to Nathan is the expansion of our existing industries – over 85% of new jobs come from our existing industries.
Lee values EDAA membership because of the opportunities to network, share ideas, and foster relationships. He emphasizes that working as an economic developer is a “Relationship Business” and the EDAA allows its members to make long-lasting relationships.
Member Spotlight
Veronica Crock
Alabama Department of Commerce
Veronica Crock serves as a Senior Project Manager at the Alabama Department of Commerce. Previously, she served as President of the Ozark-Dale County Economic Development Corporation and President of Grow Southeast Alabama, an 11-county regional organization. Prior to devoting herself full-time to economic development, Mrs. Crock served as Dean at Enterprise State Community College and the Alabama Aviation College where she worked with economic development organizations, local governments, and educational entities to establish a solid workforce development background.
The Alabama Department of Commerce works with companies and communities to improve the quality of life for Alabama citizens by increasing capital investment and job creation across the state.
Soon after moving into the field, Veronica was encouraged by other EDAA members to join the organization. She quickly learned that membership is invaluable as you build and expand your network.
Crock says It’s hard to pick just a few projects that stand out to her. Working on projects in all industries in communities across the state makes every project interesting! Each project is unique so it’s always interesting to learn about the assets of communities as it relates to a specific project and to experience the individual personalities within each community, says Crock. The most interesting projects are those where personalities are complimentary—a company representative connects with a community or people within the community. It’s also interesting to see how the industry teams we’ve established are helping us to be more competitive and win projects, she says.
Veronica emphasizes that there’s so much value in being an EDAA member. She greatly appreciates the networking opportunities and the organization keeping members abreast of issues that impact membership. Crock says she is grateful for the lifelong friendships she’s made through the organization.
