The team at Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership (CCEDP) continues to grow and evolve in an effort to better serve the business community. The organization recently announced Brandon Ruppe will be stepping into the newly-created role of director of business services for the organization.
Ruppe has made a career of assisting companies in recruiting, retaining, and developing employees. He specializes in assisting companies develop talent pipelines and helping them become fully integrated into the Cleveland County community.
CCEDP is focused on nurturing the community’s ongoing economic development efforts by attracting new industries and supporting the diverse needs of our existing industries. For more information, click here.
Kristin Reese, executive director of CCEDP, noted that Ruppe’s impressive past career experience in workforce development and customized training was exactly what the organization needed.
“When we are competing for an economic development project these days, our discussions with companies are centered around labor availability and talent attraction strategies: Nearly all industrial corporate relocation decisions are now based on a community’s ability to provide a sustainable talent pipeline, as well as high-quality training programs,” Reese said. “Because of Brandon’s previous professional experience, he clearly stood out to us as a professional that could help CCEDP accelerate the organization’s workforce development and talent attraction programming, as well as enhance those discussions with companies that we are trying to recruit to our community.”
Rupee joined the CCEDP with established relationships with many existing industries in the Cleveland County community. Reese noted Ruppe’s “broad understanding of economic development,” would allow him to hit the ground running in his new role.
In addition to spearheading CCEDP’s workforce development and talent attraction efforts, Ruppe will be also fully immersed in other areas of the organization, including: business development, existing industry support, target sector strategy development, investor relations, research, and marketing.
A graduate of Western Carolina University, Ruppe has recently been accepted into UNC Charlotte’s Doctorate of Business Administration program.
Ruppe also currently serves in the NC National Guard and has deployed to Jordan, Syria, and Iraq in support of Operation Spartan Shield and Operations Inherent Resolve.
Ruppe lives in Casar, North Carolina with his wife of 4 years, Charlotte. He is currently involved in a variety of community outreach boards including the Foothills Workforce Development Board, and the Cleveland County Veterans’ Advisory Council.
