Ellen Harpel is the founder of Smart Incentives, which helps communities make sound decisions throughout the economic development incentives process. Launched in 2013, Smart Incentives works with state, local, and national governments to design and implement incentive programs that are effective and responsible. Smart Incentives is also at the forefront of efforts to develop more robust processes for monitoring compliance and evaluating the effectiveness of incentive programs.
Ellen speaks and writes frequently on incentives for audiences comprising economic development leaders, elected officials, and finance professionals, including the National Conference on State Legislatures, State Economic Development Executives Network, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and National Association of State Budget Offices. She has provided legislative testimony in several states. The Smart Incentives website provides presentations, reports, and tools designed to give policy makers practical guidance for building incentive programs that create lasting community benefits.
Recent projects inc have addressed economic development strategic planning, improvements to incentive policy design and management, and incentive program evaluation. Publications include “Incentives for Entrepreneurial Firms” (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation 2021) and “Reflecting Community Priorities in Economic Development Practices (The Pew Charitable Trusts 2020). She contributed the chapter on “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Investment Incentives” for Rethinking Investment Incentives: Trends and Policy Options (Columbia University Press 2016).
Prior to founding BDA, Dr. Harpel was a manager with the professional services firm Deloitte & Touche, where she advised economic development organizations on business attraction, growth and retention strategies through the Fantus Consulting division. She also served as an Associate with Charles Percy & Associates, an international business advisory firm in Washington, DC, where she worked with US companies to expand their markets overseas. She has also worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Home Builders. Through these experiences Dr. Harpel has gained a broad knowledge of the economic and market factors that drive growth and development in businesses and communities.
Ellen is a Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness and an Affiliate Faculty member with the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. She is a member of the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), International Economic Development Council (IEDC), and the Virginia Economic Developers Association. She is also president of Business Development Advisors LLC (BDA), an economic development and market intelligence consulting firm in Arlington, VA.