Teri Ooms
Teri Ooms is Executive Director of the Joint Urban Studies Center. The principal purpose of the Joint Urban Studies Center is to increase the capacity of communities to solve their own problems and become thriving small cities. In addition, the Center supports the development of appropriate academic and service initiatives for students from partnering institutions, and is working to create a faculty database, in order to be able to refer faculty to communities, businesses, and non-profits that can benefit from their expertise. JUSC also acts as a distributor of faculty research so that the region has access to it.
From 1997 – 2004, Ooms served as President/CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership (IEEP), Riverside, CA and of its two sister companies. IEEP is responsible for the regional marketing, attraction and recruitment of new business to the region, the expansion and retention of existing business, film, tourism, high tech regional development, workforce collaborative, regional visioning & planning, legislative advocacy and the Small Business Development Center.
As President/CEO, Ms. Ooms completed a reorganization of the company resulting in new programs and services, financial stability and increased prominence in the community. In the period of 1997-2003, IEEP had 70 successful business attractions and retentions resulting in over $730 million in new investment into the region creating over 9,500 jobs. The region had over 5,000 film shoots, demonstrating a little over $425 million in regional impact in the same period. In 1999, she has was awarded "Management Leader of the Year", by the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management, and in 1998, was a recipient of the "Women of Distinction" award given by the Business Press. During her term as CEO, IEEP’s membership grew by 10% and maintained an average membership retention ratio of 93%. IEEP evolved to include a high technology development program and coordination of the region’s workforce collaborative to bring education and business partnerships to benefit employers, employees and students and a regional collaborative focused on regional visioning, planning, advocacy and implementation.
Ms. Ooms joined IEEP in 1991 as the Executive Director of its Inland Empire Small Business Development Center. Under the direction of Ms. Ooms, the Center grew to a staff of 21 with multiple regional locations, and its program has increased funding to $1.1 million, making it the largest California program. The Center created numerous special services and training programs, and demonstrated economic impact of over $300 million in its eleven-year history.
Prior to moving to Southern California, Ms. Ooms worked as a Corporate Comptroller for a multi state insurance agency and worked for three years as a Business Consultant in Scranton, PA. During that time, she wrote and copyrighted several workbooks on Small Business Planning and Management.
Ms. Ooms is a cum laude graduate of the University of Scranton with a BS in Public Administration and an MBA in Finance.