About
Consultant
Larry Twele
With over 25 years of service in state and local economic development agencies, Larry has experience in economic development strategy, legislative policy, entrepreneurship, and community development.
Major areas of expertise include:
- Economic development strategy
- Business attraction and retention
- Entrepreneurship
- Small business financing
- Business incentives
- Disaster response and recovery
- Legislative policy
Major accomplishments include facilitating strategic plans that led to the creation of over 30,000 new jobs, $2B in capital investment, and impacting over 12 million sq ft of industrial, office, and retail space. Other accomplishments include launching the Maryland Innovation Center (a 60,000 sq ft incubator, co-working, and collaboration space), leading the business recovery of Ellicott City after the 2016 and 2018 floods, and implementing a small business loan fund that has invested over $18M in over 100 businesses creating almost 900 new jobs.
He was awarded a Governor’s Citation for his role in the Ellicott City flood recovery and received two National Association of Counties (NACO) awards (2021, 2023) for innovative and effective business programs.
He currently leads an economic development practice focused on strategic planning and executive leadership and is a consultant to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration.
Larry is a Past President of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and currently serves on the Public Policy Committee and the Professional Development Committee.
He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Loyola University – Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.
Meet the Team Behind PPR Strategies
Sandy Dubay
CEO and Founder
Sandy Dubay, CEcD (formerly Sandy Sponaugle) is the CEO and Founder of PPR Strategies (previously Platinum PR). As PPR Strategies’ fearless leader, she brings over 20 years of marketing savvy …
Sophie Slawson
Managing Director
Sophie loves helping small-town economies reach their fullest potential. As the Managing Director at PPR Strategies, she leads projects, multitasks like a champ …
Heather Gramm
Vice President of Strategy
With over 20 years of expertise across municipal, county, and state economic development, Heather Gramm is a certified economic developer (CEcD) with a wealth of experience in transforming communities.
Hanna Turner
Director of Client Relations
Hanna enjoys tapping into the uniqueness of our clients, helping them to expand and thrive. She has worked in municipal government communications, economic development, …
Mia Vaccaro
Public Relations Specialist
Hannah Clawson
Senior Content Writer
Content makes the world go around and Hannah is more than happy to help it spin!
As Senior Content Writer, she meticulously crafts all written pieces for PPR’s clientele.
Kayla Sherry
Social Media Coordinator
Kayla, as the Gen Z stereotypes claim, is obsessed with all things social media. Growing up during the early stages of today’s most-used digital platforms has allowed her to become immersed…
Caleigh Bernota
Communications Specialist
Caleigh is a senior at Stevenson University working towards a degree in Business Communications with Graphic Design and Fashion Merchandising minors.
