About Team NEO

Business Attraction : Major Projects

Jay Foran
Senior Vice President, Business Attraction

Jay Foran is responsible for generating business attraction and expansion lead opportunities, with an emphasis on high-growth industry clusters. He fosters mutually beneficial relationships with site selectors and corporate clients, and steers opportunities through the regional economic development framework, partnering with local and state economic development groups.

Prior to joining Team NEO, Mr. Foran was Vice President, Business Development for The Lake West Group LLC, a management consulting firm, that provides technology, strategic planning, process redesign and change management services primarily to the retail industry. He also served in a variety of key leadership positions with Procter & Gamble during a lengthy and distinguished career. Mr. Foran was responsible for a variety of business building initiatives that have been emulated throughout the consumer products industry.

Mr. Foran has an extensive record of leadership in enabling successful civic advocacy organizations, private and public campaigns, and assessments to support community sustainability. He has served as the Chairman of Lakewood Schools Facility Assessment Committee, led multiple successful bond campaigns, and is the 2005 Recipient of State of Ohio NPRSA “Friend of Education” Golden Apple Awards. He also sits on the Board of Trustees for Lakewood Hospital Foundation – Lakewood Public Schools Alumni Foundation and is a Lakewood Alive Founder, Officer and Board Member.

Mr. Foran received his Bachelors in Marketing Management from Miami University. Additionally, he is a graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC. He resides in Lakewood with his wife and four children.

jforan@teamneo.org | 216-363-5407

Laura Koballa Hudak
Vice President, Business Attraction

Laura Koballa Hudak is responsible for overseeing the financial, information systems, human resource and fundraising functions for Team NEO. In addition, Laura supports many attraction projects through special assignments such as workforce development, talent attraction and diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Mrs. Hudak previously served as senior manager in Deloitte & Touche’s Enterprise Risk Services (ERS) group. She has more than 17 years of experience in a variety of IT platforms including MVS, AS/400, NT, Unix and Novell. In addition, Mrs. Hudak has considerable experience with Oracle Financials.

During Laura's tenure at Deloitte, she was instrumental in leading regional HIPPA activities for the healthcare industry and employers with self-insured health plans. In addition, she was one of the national facilitators of Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. Past client experience includes KeyCorp., National City Bank, Charter One, The City of Cleveland, The City of Akron, Parker Hannifin, Eaton Corporation, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Cleveland Clinic Health System and University Hospitals of Cleveland.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Laura spent 11 years at Ernst & Young. She worked in the capacity of a financial and information systems security auditor, splitting time in the Cleveland, National and London offices. At Ernst & Young, Ms. Koballa primarily served the financial services, manufacturing and health care industries in both Ohio and Michigan.

Mrs. Hudak is a Cleveland native and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, computer science & business management from Kent State University. In addition, she is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

Laura is also involved with various civic and not-for-profit causes outside of Team NEO. Laura sits on the boards of the Animal Protective League, Cleveland Leadership Center and The Club at Key Center. Laura has been a volunteer for the United Way in various capacities since 1988. In addition, Laura is a 2003 graduate of Cleveland Bridge Builders.

lkhudak@teamneo.org | 216-363-5404

Thomas (“Tom”) Sudow
Vice President, Business Attraction

Thomas (“Tom”) Sudow is Vice President, Attraction for Team NEO and in this role he works with Cleveland Clinic Innovations as Director of Business Development for the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center (GCIC). Tom is charged with attracting bioscience and medical device companies to the GCIC.

Prior to joining Team NEO and the GCIC he served as Executive Director of the Beachwood, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce. In his role with the Chamber he also coordinated economic development efforts for the City of Beachwood. During his tenure as Executive Director, he recruited more than 20 international companies to establish their North America headquarters in Beachwood.

Mr. Sudow is actively involved in the Northeastern Ohio community and served a three-year term as chair of the Northern Ohio Area Chambers of Commerce (NOACC), an association of 123 chambers with more than 35,000 members. The largest independent Chamber organization in the US. During Tom’s Chairmanship NOACC membership increased by over 100%.

He also served as President of the Beachwood Chamber of Commerce; President of the Beachwood Transportation Management Organization; President of the Cleveland Indians Wahoo Club; President of the Cleveland Cavilers Rebounder organization; and he serves on the board of several community organizations.

Sudow is also an active community leader and has worked with and for nonprofit organizations for nearly 30 years. He is a frequent guest columnist in publications such as Crain’s Cleveland Business, Inside Business and the Cleveland Jewish News. In addition, he is frequently called upon to lecture and has taught a course in fund-raising management for seminars sponsored by Case Western Reserve University. He has also appeared on radio as a host of several programs.

He has been recognized with awards from many economic development and community organizations.
Tom holds a B.A. from Kent State University and an MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

tsudow@teamneo.org | 216-363-5421

Shilpa Kedar
Director, Business Attraction

Shilpa Kedar manages projects that lead to expansion and attraction of companies to the region. Ms. Kedar is a key point of contact for companies during the site search process. She partners with regional chambers of commerce, state and local governments and other public and private entities to provide a central point for economic development. Ms. Kedar plays a significant role in the conceptualization and design of tools and processes that strengthen the region’s ability to attract business. She has worked with clients in multiple industries, notably, food processing, business processing outsourcing and advanced energy.

Ms. Kedar brings to Team NEO more than10 years of diverse experiences from the business and nonprofit sector in the United States, India and Romania. In the first couple of years in the United States, she worked with various non-profit entities, including Cleveland Social Venture Partners (SVP), a nonprofit philanthropic venture fund, as well as Judson Retirement Community and Earth Day Coalition. Her work in Romania involved organizational assessments of six nonprofits devoted to children and women welfare.

Prior to this, Ms. Kedar’s experience was in the use of Information and Communication Technology for rural development. As research staff for the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, she worked on projects for clients such as World Bank involving action research for proof-of-concept initiatives, program evaluation and impact assessment of electronic governance initiatives. Her background includes more than four years experience as a placement consultant with the leading recruitment firm of Ahmedabad, India, where she worked with multiple industries.

A graduate of Delhi University’s Business Management program, Ms. Kedar has two masters degrees – an MBA from Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies and most recently, a Master’s in Management of Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University. She is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma international honor society. Ms. Kedar is a Partner with Cleveland SVP where she led the Investment process for 2007 and is a member of the Outcomes Assessment team.

skedar@teamneo.org | 216-363-5422

Camille Chin Billups
Manger, Business Attraction

Camille Chin Billups is responsible for managing projects that lead to the expansion and attraction of companies in key industries in the Cleveland Plus area. Ms. Billups manages client relationships and helps to execute projects by connecting prospective businesses with available properties, potential supply chain partners, and various incentives.

Ms. Billups joins Team NEO with 10 years of deal execution experience in the banking industry, including serving as an analyst, and associate director with Bank One. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management from Albion College. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Administration degree from Cleveland State University.

cbillups@teamneo.org | 216-363-5434

Megan Tweed
Project Associate, Business Attraction

 
Megan Tweed is responsible for managing projects that lead to expansion and attraction of companies in key industries in the Cleveland Plus area. Ms. Tweed coordinates a regional response to attraction opportunities, partnering with local and state economic development groups. She also contributes to the design and development of regional economic development tools and processes.

Prior to joining Team NEO, Ms. Tweed managed the development of the marketing plan for ProEd Communications, a healthcare communications company

Ms. Tweed holds a bachelors degree in Public Policy from Brown University. During her time at Brown, she consulted for the Partnership for Creative Industrial Space (PCIS), a Providence-based non-profit that works to preserve industrial work space for artists and small businesses. She gathered baseline data and made recommendations for PCIS’ future assessment of the economic impact of the West Side Arts District, a tax-exempt arts district in Providence. Ms. Tweed graduated Magna Cum Laude and is a member of Pi Delta Phi, the national French honors society.

mtweed@teamneo.org | 216-363-5432