Event Registration - Peoria Chamber of Commerce
This event has completed.

Networking Breakfast - Virtual
6/2/2020
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Event Description


Join us for our first of the month Tuesday Networking Breakfast - now turned virtual! Please welcome our speakers this month, Rick Buss with the City of Peoria, and Jeff Berggren with Huntington University. Rick and Jeff will be focused on discussing Economic Development in the community.

Time
8 - 9:30 AM

Place
Online Zoom Meeting
ZOOM LINK INFORMATION IS PROVIDED ON REGISTRATION CONFIRMATION PAGE AND EMAIL CONFIRMATION.
If you do not immediately get an email confirmation, please reach out to events@peoriachamber.com.


Presenters
Rick Buss
Economic Development Services Directory
City of Peoria



Jeff Berggren
Director of Arizona Operations
Huntington University



Bios
Rick Buss
Rick Buss is the Economic Development Services Director for the City of Peoria, Arizona. He is focused on raising the profile of Peoria locally, regionally, nationally, and globally through relationship development and channel marketing. With the intent of earning a reputation as a resource, not a bureaucracy, Rick is a strong believer and practitioner of public private partnerships.â?? 

Prior to Peoria, Rick was the Assistant City Manager for the City of Surprise where he oversaw the Economic Development, Community Development, Water Resource Management, and Information Technology Departments. Rick built departmental teams that embraced a vibrant culture of servant leadership and a vision of being a global community with world class aspirations. Rick founded an aggressive multilateral FDI strategy called “Surprise International” and a targeted marketing effort known as “C2B.”â??
 

With his entrepreneurial roots being in the private sector, Rick co-founded Envirosafe Technical, a 260 employee firm focused on contamination control for advanced technology facilities, served as the VP of Regional Operations of Pentagon Technologies/MPW Industrial Services, a 2,800 employee NASDAQ company, and as Development Director for Scitec. Rick’s senior management experience includes working in, and with, some of the largest organizations in the world. Rick also served as President of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), a non-profit organization, where he won 5 international awards.

Rick Buss holds a Bachelor of Science in International Marketing, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA), and a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Technology and Management (CSTM).

For more on Rick Buss, please visit City of Peoria's website here.


Jeff Berggren
Jeff Berggren came to Huntington in 1993 after graduating from another Christian college, John Brown University in Arkansas, and then working in both admissions and public relations there for nine years. He has three bachelor’s degrees; Radio and TV Broadcasting, Business Administration, and Public Relations. While in college Berggren played varsity football, JV basketball and club rugby.

After serving as vice president for enrollment and marketing on Huntington’s home campus for over 20 years, Berggren moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area in the summer of 2014 (yes, the summer!) to begin the groundwork for HU’s new additional location in Peoria, Arizona. Berggren holds the title of Director of Arizona Operations and oversees the extended location of Huntington University in Arizona. As director Berggren is responsible for assessing target student markets, hiring and directing campus personnel, coordinating student recruitment and marketing, coordinating the assessment of student learning, interacting with Peoria business networks and municipal authorities, maintaining campus accreditation and administering academic and nonacademic policies for the Arizona site. He works closely with several key groups on the Indiana campus including the School of Digital and Visual Arts and the Senior Leadership Team.

Berggren has a heightened level of empathy for students and parents involved in the college selection process. His oldest daughter Lindsey is a HU graduate with a degree in film production and his youngest daughter is a junior film production major at HU in Indiana after taking several high school early entry DMA classes at HU Arizona during her last two years at Liberty High School in Peoria.

For more on Jeff Berggren, please visit Huntington University's website here.