Adriana Cruz Receives Prestigious National Recognition from Consultant Connect

May 12, 2016 – SAN MARCOS, TX – Consultant Connect, a consulting agency designed to bridge the gap between economic developers and site consultants, announces its 2016 list of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers, which includes Greater San Marcos Partnership President Adriana Cruz. Their colleagues in both the economic development industry and the site consultant community known for excellent practices, innovation and success in building the communities they serve nominated the economic development professionals selected for the list.

“This annual list recognizing North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers is designed to acknowledge the hard work of the top leaders in this field and elevate the conversation around economic development and job creation,” said Ron Kitchens, managing partner of Consultant Connect. “Each of the leaders represented on this year’s list are beyond deserving of this recognition for their efforts in building our communities brick by brick and job by job.”

Each of the top 50 economic developers will be featured on the weekly podcast, From The Ground Up: North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers. These industry leaders will be interviewed on the podcast to share their expertise in the field of economic development and leadership insights they’ve learned along the way. Cruz’s podcast was released today and is available athttp://consultantconnect.org/category/econdev-podcast/.

“Under the leadership of Ms. Cruz, the Greater San Marcos region has seen tremendous economic growth,” said John Schott, Market President, Frost Bank and Chair of the Greater San Marcos Partnership Board of Directors. “Her ethical professionalism and deep knowledge of the industry have been a great assets to our communities for the last three years and we look forward to continued prosperity in business attraction, existing business support, and entrepreneurship and talent development.”

“It’s an honor to be named to Consultant Connect’s North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers list for 2016,” said Cruz. “I am passionate about economic development because of the opportunities that the profession helps create for residents of the communities we serve. Thank you to the San Marcos area community for your support in our mission as economic developers.”

About Adriana Cruz

Professional Information: Adriana Cruz is the president of the Greater San Marcos Partnership, a regional economic development organization working on behalf of the city of San Marcos, Hays and Caldwell Counties, established to encourage economic growth in the heart of the Austin-San Antonio corridor. With more than 20 years of leadership experience in economic development and marketing at the state and regional level, Adriana leads the organization’s efforts to diversify and strengthen the economy through high quality jobs and investment by implementing a comprehensive multi-year economic development strategic plan. As part of this strategy she promotes the region across the U.S. and abroad. Most recent accomplishments for GSMP are the announcement of more than 2,300 new jobs and over $225 million in investment including Amazon’s newest fulfillment center (1,000 jobs) and EPIC Piping, the world’s largest pipe fabrication facility under one roof (600 jobs).

Professional History: Prior to assuming this role, Adriana was the vice president of global corporate recruitment for the Austin Chamber of Commerce where she was project lead in high profile corporate relocations and expansions including Apple, Facebook, eBay, Hanger Orthopedic, Samsung and LegalZoom. Adriana served for four years leading the statewide effort to promote Texas as a location for jobs and investment in Governor Rick Perry’s Economic Development and Tourism Office.

Activities & Achievements: In January 2016 she was appointed by Governor Abbott to the Texas Economic Incentives Oversight Board to review the efficiency of Texas’ incentive programs. Adriana also serves on numerous boards including the Foreign Trade Zone of Central Texas, University Federal Credit Union, United Way of Hays County and Texas State University’s STAR Park Commercialization Advisory Council. In 2014 Adriana was named a finalist in the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power: Central Texas Women of Influence Award.

Education: Adriana holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from The University of Texas at Austin.

About the Greater San Marcos Partnership

The Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP) is the 501c6 regional economic development organization serving the city of San Marcos, and Hays and Caldwell Counties focused on positioning the region for a wider diversity of quality jobs for all with higher wages. The GSMP mission is to promote sustainable, responsible and comprehensive economic development in the greater San Marcos region by implementing a five-year economic development strategic plan. Visit greatersanmarcostx.com for more information.