Economic development professional Brent Kettler has joined the award-winning team at EnSite, Inc. as its director of economic research and strategy. He will lead the planning and design firm in building, growing and developing a data-driven design element for current and future business.
Kettler brings a unique economic development background, focusing primarily on workforce development, small business expansion and regional collaboration. Most recently Kettler served as the executive director of the Hendry County Economic Development Council. A seasoned IT analyst, he also served as the business intelligence and technology manager on the business recruitment team at the Lee County Economic Development Office.
EnSite tapped Kettler to lead a new planning approach emphasizing the inclusion of site, and overall business and community impact analysis. This approach will be added to the firm’s projects, ensuring a net community benefit and alignment with the EnSite mission. Kettler’s understanding of the local business landscape, as well as pending regional workforce efforts, the key stakeholders involved and their potential impact on growth in SWFL, extends beyond the purview of traditional planning and engineering firms.
The EnSite team is positioned to grow and lead by example with a dedicated focus on high-impact elements such as corporate social responsibility as a core business function and a true data-driven philosophy to design solutions that meet the needs of all community stakeholders in a sustainable fashion.
Internally, Kettler will be responsible for building out several new business support tools and systems, as well as expanding the value of EnSite’s services through enhanced reliance on emerging GIS solutions.
Through his continuing involvement in the Futuremakers Coalition, an initiative of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, as well as various other SWFL boards such as the Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board, Kettler has demonstrated his dedication to regional collaboration and the fostering of key partnerships to create livable communities that cultivate their own robust workforce pipeline.
EnSite Principal and Director of Landscape Architecture Jonathan Romine said, “Brent brings a unique mix of technical skill, big picture thinking and passion for the values that EnSite has grown up on over more than a decade. We couldn’t ask for a better fit to expand our presence and align the objectives we share with our communities.”
Kettler said, “EnSite values relationship building, collaboration, education and questioning anything that doesn’t necessarily make sense, and that pretty succinctly describes who I am as a person. We have a golden opportunity to approach opportunities to help growing communities make the correct decisions at a blank slate level and to help others get out of their own way to reinvent a more sustainable future.”
