part marketer, part economic developer

David petr, Vision

Clients can expect significant results from Marketing Alliance through the leadership of David Petr, owner and CEO of this purpose-driven company. Spanning over 28 years, his career has included running traditional advertising agencies as well as spearheading economic development organizations in Illinois, Texas, Florida and Maryland. Unique to the economic development marketing industry, Marketing Alliance is the only company guided by a former economic development CEO.

David’s marketing work has earned national accolades and his economic development work has resulted in thousands of jobs created and billions of dollars facilitated. His ability to position communities for success is the result of an active travel schedule, totaling 36 communities visited in 2023. He finds fulfillment in understanding the value proposition of a place, telling its story well, and expanding project pipelines to benefit the residents of clients’ communities. David works with leadership to empower his broader team located throughout the United States.

Leadership

mark Weilenman, Client success

Whether it's helping a rural community rebrand itself, creating effective tools for a county to better tell their story or helping a 12-county regional organization build their marketing from scratch, Mark is focused on helping clients generate results. He began working with Marketing Alliance in 2007, and has attended hundreds of economic development conferences throughout the US, and met with thousands of economic developers, site selection consultants and business leaders. Mark brings decades of strategic marketing solutions to every client and every project.

Mark Kitchens, Design

For over 18 years at Marketing Alliance, Mark has worked with over 300 clients on 450+ websites, 60+ branding projects and 70+ digital marketing campaigns to help communities become better places to live and work. He’s best at directing the creative team to hit our client’s moving targets and at being adaptable in an environment where each client has different challenges, strengths and opportunities. Among other accomplishments, last year, Mark successfully rebranded Facility Logix, a leading Life Science consultancy in Maryland, as well as Kentucky Cornerstone – a new economic alliance in Kentucky. Mark’s super power is hearing what the client needs and creating tools to promote the unique selling points of their city, county, region, state or organization. He gladly pushes himself to exceed client satisfaction towards successfully achieving their goals.

Porter Foster, online experiences

Porter has built hundreds upon hundreds of websites. He actually lost count around 300, many years ago. At Marketing Alliance, Porter is more than a programmer. He’s a problem-solver, guide, teacher and a life-long resource for our clients. Porter knows how powerful a tool a website can be in showcasing the strengths of a community 24/7. Because of his decades-long tenure developing economic development websites, Porter is able to create user experiences and content journeys that the site selection and company decision maker worlds react to. His solutions are never off the shelf, and always inspired to be as unique as the client communities we serve. If you have visited a handful of economic development websites recently, chances are, you have seen his work.

Warren Ellis, Creative

Warren has over 25 years of experience as a creative brainstormer working for Fortune 500 companies and advertising agencies in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Houston. At Marketing Alliance, he uses this experience to assimilate abstract concepts into the art and science of business-winning and award-winning advertising. His work with David Petr at The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation helped establish the area as a national Biotech Hub and landed the county on the Top 20 shortlist for the Amazon HQ2. Warren applies the same strategic creative energy and innovative implementation he has for AT&T, Bank of America, Capital One and Reliant Energy towards making communities economic engines and thriving work/life destinations.

natalia payton, Digital Communications

Natalia leverages 15 years of industry experience and digital technology to understand prospect behavior, deliver highly-targeted digital campaigns and influence decision makers to take action. As an expert in digital communications, her recent workforce attraction campaign saw a 286% increase in positive reactions on Facebook for Henderson, Kentucky. And, Natalia’s dedicated email blast to site selectors and decision makers for Kentucky Cornerstone identified 27 company leads. She puts our clients’ goals at the forefront of everything she does – from negotiating media buys, implementing digital campaigns and adapting to trends and algorithms that can (and do) change overnight. As an ally to economic development digital media leadership, she partners with them to create new or hybrid solutions that are untraditional, powerful and set Marketing Alliance clients apart in an often cluttered space.

Jon Maynard, Strategy

Jon guides the Marketing Alliance team in creating marketing strategies that align with our clients' specific economic development challenges and goals. His strategic approach has been instrumental in several client engagements, most notably with Lafayette and Winston Counties in Mississippi. In these initiatives, he developed innovative workforce programs that received the maximum funding awards from the Tennessee Valley Authority and established new benchmarks in community-focused marketing and talent development. Jon’s focus involves crafting marketing solutions that are successful, resilient and adaptable in achieving immediate objectives, ensuring sustainable growth and long-term success in dynamic markets. His commitment to problem-solving and forward-thinking strategies is a cornerstone of our success, ensuring that our clients meet and exceed their economic growth and market presence goals.