CREATIVE CLASS GROUP, LLC
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA

Who we are The Creative Class Group is a global advisory services firm composed of leading next-generation researchers, academics, and business strategists. Utilizing one-of-kind global data and measurements, we advise companies on locational investment strategies and consumer targeting. As experts on urban issues, cities and the Creative Class, we develop and craft content, marketing and community engagement initiatives. The Creative Class makes up one third of the U.S. workforce, collects half of all wages, yet account for 70% of discretionary spending. You cannot afford to miss them. (McGraw Hill, 2013) was a ‘Business Best Seller,’ by Tattered Cover, the largest independent bookstore retailer in the U.S. and Steven Pedigo is the director of research and advising for the Creative Class Group. He is an expert in economic and urban development, city strategy and management, and placemaking. Steven has advised and collaborated with more than 50 cities, universities, developers, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies across the globe to build more creative, innovative, and inclusive communities. In addition to his role at CCG, Steven is the director of the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate Urban Lab and a clinical assistant professor of economic development at NYU. Earlier in his career, Steven served as vice president for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a national research organization founded by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter to encourage private-sector investment into U.S. distressed urban areas. Reham Alexander is the director of global operations and events for the Creative Class Group. She handles client relations for all consulting projects and management of domestic and international speaking engagements. Christian Unverzagt is a partner in design. He is also the architectural designer of Richard Florida’s research institute, the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He is a designer and educator based in Detroit where he directs M1/dtw, a nationally recognized, multidisciplinary studio working at the intersection of design and cultural production. Unverzagt is also on the faculty at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Principal of Benfield Partners in New York City, Chris Benfield works on a variety of architectural, product and strategy based projects for clients worldwide speaking on architecture and the importance of place. Previously he was a Senior Strategist for the Arnell Group’s Innovation Lab, Peter Marino, MR Architecture + Décor and was a founding principal of M1/DTW, a nationally recognized multidisciplinary studio. Chris holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts with distinction from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and has taught and lectured at a number of schools including Pratt Institute, University of Maryland, West Virginia University, College for Creative Studies and Cranbrook. His work has been published in Scout, 306090, New York Times, Interior Design Magazine, Clear Magazine and Archinect. Zoltan J. Acs speaks to the importance of entrepreneurship for economic development and its role in the global economy. He is a professor at George Mason University School of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Public Policy. He is also a Research Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Economics in Jena, Germany and a visiting professor at Imperial College Business School in London. He is coeditor and founder of Small Business Economics, the leading entrepreneurship and small business publication in the world. Previously, he held the position of Doris and Robert McCurdy Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in the Robert G. Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore. He has also served as: Research Fellow at the U. S. Bureau of the Census, Chief Economic Advisor at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Associate Director of Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the University of Maryland, Research Fellow at the Science Center Berlin, Research Associate at the Institute on Western Europe at Columbia University and Scholar-in-Residence at the Kauffman Foundation. Dr. Acs has held faculty positions at Middlebury College and The University of Illinois-Springfield. Dr. Acs is a leading advocate of the importance of entrepreneurship for economic development. He received the 2001 International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research, on behalf of The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development. He has published more than 100 articles and 20 books, including articles in the American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Kyklos, Journal of Urban Economics, Economica, Research Policy and Science Policy. His most recent book is Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, Cambridge University Press. Professor Agrawal has been recognized as “Professor of the Year” by the past four consecutive graduating classes of the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management. He holds a Ph.D. in Strategy and Business Economics as well as a Masters in Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Professor Agrawal is currently a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. Don Carter is an expert speaker on urban design and development. He is the David Lewis Director of Urban Design and Regional Engagement of the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He also teaches in the Master of Urban Design program in the School of Architecture. Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon University in July 2009, Carter was president of Urban Design Associates where he led many of the firm’s most complex projects, drawing upon his broad international experience as an architect, urban designer, and developer. He continues to serve as consulting principal to the firm.