Barry W. (Chip) Wood is Vice President of Community Relations and Economic Development for Duke Energy in Ohio and Kentucky. In his role, Chip leads a team responsible for developing relationships with large business customers, local governmental agencies and community leaders. In addition, he is responsible for the company’s economic development efforts, volunteerism and Foundation investments in the Greater Cincinnati region.
Since moving to the Greater Cincinnati area in 2006, he has been involved in various community and business organizations. Chip currently serves as board chair for Junior Achievement, and secretary for Downtown Cincinnati Inc. In addition, Chip is an active board member for the Cincinnati USA Partnership, Cincinnati Arts Association, 3CDC and the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
Chip joined the company in 1987 as an assistant engineer and has managed various functions including customer relations, sales, and most recently was responsible for Marketing and Strategy for Duke’s largest customers.
A native of High Point, NC, Chip earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Masters in Business Administration from Queens University of Charlotte.
Chip and his wife Mari have two sons and reside in Union, Kentucky.
SoapBlog 4 - You gotta take a swing to get a hit
Posted By: Chip Wood, 6/19/2009
I always get frustrated when my 9 year-old son (and sometimes my
favorite Reds players) strikes out without ever taking a good swing in
baseball. I get the same feeling when companies and communities sit
idly in the dugout while others are out pursuing the business
opportunities that result in long term growth.
While the current economic conditions require companies to scrutinize
every investment, now more than ever, we need to be executing a focused
plan to retain existing companies and position our community for
attraction and expansion opportunities.
Today Neil Hensley and I met with a company based in Ireland. Our
consultant had verified the company was interested in expanding to the
US, but Greater Cincinnati was not on the company's radar as a
potential site for their US manufacturing operations.
Within the first few minutes of the meeting, the company owner asked
very directly why he should open a manufacturing facility in
Cincinnati. We shared a few of the many benefits of our area,
including easy access to his customers and the availability of a
skilled workforce. The company will now be visiting us and I think we
have a good shot at attracting them to our region.
Whether we win or lose this particular opportunity, I'm glad that the
Cincinnati Partnership is at least up at the plate and taking a few
good swings on behalf of our region.
SoapBlog 3 - Cincinnati's Workforce: An asset and challenge
Posted By: Chip Wood, 6/18/2009
For the past couple of years, I have heard our community leaders say
that our success in attracting good jobs to our region is dependent
upon winning the talent war for the brightest workers. Today we heard
first hand how our existing workforce is an asset but that we must do
more to expand the pool of workers with strong math, science and
analytical skills.
We met with a company that has operated within our region for decades.
For the past several years, the company has struggled to be profitable
and a recent management change resulted in a mandate to either turn
around the operation or close the facility. The company has made great
strides to reduce costs and I believe they are well on their way to
stabilizing their business. When we asked about the keys to their
turnaround, they credited their employees. The employees' strong work ethic and willingness to make changes that reduce production costs have given the plant a real chance to survive.
Our afternoon appointment was with dunnhumby, one of the fastest
growing companies in our region. The company currentlly has several
hundred employees working in Cincinnati, at salary levels well above
our regional average. So far, they have been able to attract employees with the strong analytical skills to serve their customers.
However, they are concerned that they may have to either recruit from
outside our region (increasing their cost) or establish operations
outside our region.
For me, today's meetings reinforced the need to continue investing in
regional initiatives aimed at producing and attracting a workforce with
the strong math and science skills employers need to be successful.
SoapBlog 2 - Planes, trains and automobiles
Posted By: Chip Wood, 6/17/2009
While we are based in London, not all of our meetings are near-by. We are travelling to Southampton, Windsor and even Ireland to meet with prospects. The good news is that the London and the UK has an outstanding transportation network of subways and trains. The bad news is that the "Underground" or Tube workers are on strike - making cabs and walking the only options for travel.
The strike was to begin Tuesday at 7 p.m. Unfortunately, as we were rushing to catch a 6:00 pm train back from an appointment to the hotel
- so were about 700,000 other people. Long walks in dress shoes at
the end of a rushed and lunchless day are not among the more glamorous aspects of business attraction missions.
SoapBlog 1 - Greetings from London
Posted By: Chip Wood, 6/16/2009
Greetings from London. My name is Chip Wood and I am the Vice President of
Economic Development and Community Relations for Duke Energy. I've been working
in Cincinnati for about three years after spending 19 years with Duke in the
Carolinas.
Duke Energy is dedicated to expanding the regional economy -
increasing the number of jobs here and growing the number of companies. Quite
frankly, when the region wins on these fronts, Duke wins as well - by increasing
the number of potential customers in our service territory. But we also see
significant benefits in growing the economy because a healthy region is a
growing region and our company certainly wants to be part of a healthy
region.
We undertake our economic development efforts in conjunction with
the Cincinnati USA Partnership - the regional economic development effort lead
by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. This is my third international business
development trip with the Partnership. I am travelling throughout the United
Kingdom with Doug Moormann, the Chamber's Vice President for Economic
Development and leader of the Partnership; Neil Hensley, the Partnership's
Senior Director of Economic Development; and Jeff McElravy, the City of
Cincinnati's Development Officer.
The purpose of the Partnership's
business development trips is multi-faceted. During these missions we are
meeting with companies like dunnhumby and Ineos - UK-based businesses with a
presence in the Cincinnati USA region - on retention calls. We express our
appreciation for their investment in our region; ask about any barriers that may
threaten their existing operations in our region; and encourage them to consider
Cincinnati USA as a preferred location for future growth and expansion.
Our group is also meeting with businesses and organizations that may
have an interest in establishing a presence in the United States. One such
meeting was with the UK's Renewable Energy Association, an organization of 600
member companies engaged in various aspects of renewable energy. As these
companies grow and the US and Ohio look for more renewable energy options, we
will educate them on the strengths of our region so that they will consider
Cincinnati USA as a location for their US operations.
Lastly, we are also
meeting with prospects - qualified leads - that have an interest in locating
business operations in the US. In these meetings we are selling - making the
case for Cincinnati USA as an affordable , central location with a
highly-skilled workforce.
Check back tomorrow to hear more about our travels in the
UK.