MONTREAL, May 24, 2022 – ResearchFDI, a leader in investment attraction services for the economic development sector, has this week appointed three top executives to its senior leadership team. Scott Bryan joins the firm as Executive Vice President, Strategy & Consulting, alongside Aysegul Akyuz as Vice President, Client Experience, and Jose Grimaldo as Vice President, Client Experience.
Scott Bryan will spearhead the growth of ResearchFDI’s Strategy & Consulting division, developing business opportunities and expanding its suite of customized solutions for economic development organizations worldwide.
With over 20 years of consulting experience, Scott is an expert strategist, researcher and innovator who specializes in high-impact investment attraction strategies. He has directed business recruitment and marketing initiatives on behalf of more than 200 EDOs/IPAs, government bodies and Fortune 500 companies.
“I could not be more pleased to welcome Scott to ResearchFDI and to have him lead our innovative Strategy & Consulting division”, said Bruce Takefman, President & CEO, ResearchFDI. “Our company has entered a new, rapid phase of growth. Scott’s wide ranging and high-level experience in the public and private sectors make him ideally suited for this important role and to continue the upward trajectory of this exciting division.”
“I am thrilled to join the team and help build on the company’s incredible momentum. The breadth of expertise, combined with investments in new technology and a unique vision for consulting services, have positioned the company for significant growth. I join a very talented team of researchers and consultants and together we look forward to providing our clients with a first class service”, stated Bryan.
Partnering Scott with Senior Director Andre Schlueter, PhD, who will continue to oversee qualitative data collection and methodology implementation, ResearchFDI has illustrated its intention to continue the expansion of its Strategy & Consulting service offering to meet the needs of a broad range of public and private sector clients.
Aysegul Akyuz has been appointed to Vice President, Client Experience and will take responsibility for developing ResearchFDI’s client services, with oversight for the full program lifecycle in the Lead Generation division. Aysegul is a PMP certified project manager with more than 10 years’ experience in economic development consulting. She brings extensive knowledge in client and program management, strategy, market intelligence and team management to her new role.
“We are very excited to welcome Aysegul to our executive team. Having worked in investment attraction for over a decade, Aysegul has an unrivaled knowledge of its value proposition and workflow for our clients,” commented Takefman.
“This new role is the perfect fit,” stated Akyuz. “It allows me to combine my experience ensuring clients meet their strategic goals with my passion for building high-performing teams—all while serving clients who are doing important work in communities worldwide.”
Jose Grimaldo joins the growing leadership team as Vice President, Client Experience. Jose has 7 years of experience in business development and market research, and since joining ResearchFDI in 2018 has become a sought-after investment attraction consultant known for his strong leadership on complex projects and ability to develop trusted client partnerships.
“During his time with ResearchFDI, Jose’s contributions have been invaluable to not only driving the growth of the business, but also creating a great company culture for our employees” said Takefman. “Jose is a trusted advisor and becomes a valuable member of our executive team, and I look forward to the impact he will have as we advance the company in 2022 and beyond.”
“When I first joined ResearchFDI in 2018, I knew they had something special and that I wanted to be a part of their growth,” stated Grimaldo. “Since then, I’ve enjoyed increasing responsibility in project management and client service roles and have experienced first-hand the impact of ResearchFDI’s work. My experience has only made me more passionate about finding and delivering innovative solutions to our client’s most challenging economic development projects.”
About ResearchFDI: Established in 2010 by Bruce Takefman, ResearchFDI is a specialized investment attraction consulting firm widely recognized within the economic development and investment attraction industry for its accomplished lead generation programs that have yielded over $5 billion in new investments for its clients worldwide. In addition, ResearchFDI offers a suite of strategy, business intelligence and research reports that act as precursors to any investment attraction campaign such as developing economic development plans, FDI strategies, marketing plans, benchmarking reports, sector profiles, industry reports, investor pitches, pitch deck development and investment attraction training. The firm currently employs 40 full-time consultants and is Headquartered in Downtown Montreal and maintains offices and key strategic partnerships in 16 global business locations including Toronto, Vancouver, (Canada) Boston, Silicon Valley (US) Santiago (Chile), Rome (Italy), Bordeaux (France), Rotterdam (Netherlands), and Berlin (Germany) to name a few.
