Skip Teaster, CEcD, PCED, IOM

Community Economic Development & Assistant Director of Facilities
Fanning Institute
University of Georgia

Skip Teaster has a diverse background. His career has spanned a broad range of experiences from military service, consumer finance, grades 6-8 classroom teacher, textbook sales, managed healthcare, heath care consulting, hospital business development and strategic planning, chambers of commerce, community and race relations, community economic development executive and university educator / associate professor. Mr. Teaster has been successful in rural, urban, suburban and inter-city development settings and he is considered to be a “change agent” or a “catalyst for change”. He thrives on projects that some may say “cannot be done” and enjoys encouraging local leaders to take the “leap of faith” required to move their communities, organizations or facilities forward. Skip promotes community economic development (CED) because it is “inclusive”, “collaborative” and “sustainable” and he believes strongly that the ‘genius is within the community’ and all real progress comes from the “bottom up and not top down”. Skip focuses on the Wave Three Plus of the CED Strategy model (community economic development, BR&E, Entrepreneurs / Incubators, Public Private Partnerships, Regionalism, Strategic Planning & International Tourism).

Teaster is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), is a Professional Community and Economic Developer (PCED) and has completed U. S. Chamber Institute of Management (IOM). Also, Skip is an Associate Professor with the Fanning Institute at the University of Georgia and his work is focused on Community Economic Development and Healthcare in the Public Service and Outreach Division which supports the land grant mission of UGA. Skip is a faculty member at Oklahoma University’s Economic Development Institute (OU/EDI) and teaches community economic development at the Community Development Institute East (CDI-East) with West Virginia University and CDI Central with the University of Central Arkansas. Skip is a Co-Facilitator for the CEcD Exam and assists Exam Candidates as they prepare for the rigorous CEcD exam.

He has a M.Ed. from Columbus State University (Earth Science and Social Studies) and a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance and General Business) from the University of Southern Mississippi. He hails from the famous Mississippi Delta community of Yazoo City, Mississippi.