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July 22, 2025 51 mins

What if you could land new foreign direct investment projects *and* keep existing employers happy… without a million-dollar budget?

In this episode, Chris Knight, Managing Director of FT Locations, pulls back the curtain on relationship-first strategies that help communities of any size compete on the global stage.

Key Takeaways:

  • How to embed businesses in your community to boost retention and long-term growth
  • Tips for standing out among the 15,000 EDOs that are chasing the same 15,000 projects each year
  • How EDOs of any size can leverage mapping tech, state partnerships, and targeted PR to attract FDI without overspending
  • Real-world examples of how FT Locations is using AI+human workflows to speed up data pulls and company profiling
  • Why project counts may dip short-term but capital and jobs are poised to grow

Resources Mentioned:

About the Guest:

Chris Knight is the Managing Director of FT Locations, a division of the Financial Times Group that provides location intelligence services for foreign direct investment. He oversees a global team that supports more than 1,100 economic development organizations with data, mapping technology, marketing services, and strategic advisory work. You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/chrisknightfdi).

The EDO Breakthrough podcast is brought to you by PPR Strategies. PPR Strategies is a strategic consulting firm working specifically with EDOs and other place-based organizations. We share the unique stories of communities through communications, strategic planning, marketing, media relations, and more.

Visit us at pprstrategies.com/edobreakthrough to learn more and to submit a question for a future episode.

Produced and edited by SpeakEasy Productions.

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