Strategic Leadership Team
Gail Nolan CEcD
Chief Strategy Officer, Invest Puerto Rico
Chief Strategy Officer, Invest Puerto Rico
Ms. Nolan is the Chief Strategy Officer for Invest Puerto Rico. She is a nationally recognized subject matter expert in disaster recovery economic strategy development, sector targeted economic development strategies, economic public/private partnership strategies, university engagement and grant program administration. She brings over 35 years of experience in economic development, tourism, marketing and promotion related organizational management, personally directing programs at the corporate, local, regional, state and federal level.
Previously Ms. Nolan worked 10 years for the State of Wisconsin, where she served as the Chair of the Economic Subcommittee for the Governor’s Emergency Task Force and on the Governor’s Wisconsin Emergency Strategy Team leading economic strategies. She developed state and national recovery projects designed to mitigate economic damage resultant from federally declared disasters in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, which dramatically impacted critical infrastructure in over half of the state, as well as responding to the simultaneous collapse of the regional auto industry and subsequent recession. During this time, she effectively managed a portfolio of over $250 million in Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding and over $50 Million in Economic Development Administration (EDA) funding.
Most recently she served as The Director of Sector Strategies with specific focus on aerospace, life sciences and information technology where she specialized in aligning regional assets to global market needs and creating unique competitive positions. Wisconsin metrics improvement included raising aerospace industry production by 54% in one year, raising aerospace sector exports by 18% four quarters in a row, and Madison being named the #1 attractor of Millennial talent. During this time Wisconsin rose in CNN’s ‘states for business’ ranking from 37th to 11th out of 50 states.
As part of this work she led the creation of a strategic action plan for the Transform Milwaukee Initiative, a comprehensive, public-private initiative that leveraged workforce, industrial strengths and transportation assets to expand community investments, increase business development, boost job creation and strengthen neighborhoods. The initiative was honored by the American Planners Association as a national best practice for innovative strategies. This combined experience provides her unique insight on how to successfully use distressed economic circumstances as an opportunity to transition toward technology-based, collaboratively fueled, globally competitive, growth strategies.
Gail has been the Chief Strategist for the Wisconsin Aerospace Partners housed at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in partnership with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and the CEO of Towers Nolan Consulting, providing tech-led solutions for strategic industry growth using public-private partnerships. In that capacity Ms. Nolan was the Chief Economic Advisor to Milwaukee 7 on the Midwest Industry Exchange project, a collaborative agreement with the Ohio Aerospace Space Institute, NASA and the Federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) designed to utilize federal lab technology resources to grow industry in distressed communities.
Ms. Nolan is a Certified Economic Professional recognized by the International Economic Development Council.