Team
Jon Roberts
Managing Director
JON ROBERTS is a national leader in technology-led economic development. He has overseen projects in Texas and other U.S. regions, as well as in Europe and Asia. In addition to being a practitioner in the field, he has conducted original research into technology growth and has been active at the state level on new legislation and initiatives.
As manager of TIP’s economic development practice, Mr. Roberts has led consulting projects in Richmond, Virginia, the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and the Austin area.
Mr. Roberts was a principal with Angelou Economic Advisors Inc. from fall 1995 to fall 2000. He structured and managed the firm’s economic development activities and oversaw state strategy discussions on incentives and tax abatements, as well as local recruitment and redevelopment efforts. He has prepared policy papers on national economic development strategy, published articles on economic development marketing and has written editorials for the state’s major newspapers.
Mr. Roberts came to Texas in 1994 as the Director of Business Development for the Texas Department of Commerce. He was responsible for overseeing a staff of over 100 employees in investment, trade, and community development.
Mr. Roberts was formerly the director of the Business Development Division of the Washington Department of Trade and Economic Development in Seattle. In this position, he directed recruitment and investment on behalf of the State of Washington and served as a key advisor to the governor on international missions for business development. He also developed regional strategies for economic development with Oregon and Idaho.
Prior to working for the Washington Department of Trade, Mr. Roberts was with the Oregon Technology Fund, where he was responsible for venture capital investments. He also managed two start-up technology companies: Fiberlite Composites and LifePort Inc., and worked with the Center for Entrepreneurial Ventures.
Mr. Roberts serves on the board of KMFA radio in Austin, Texas, and is active in the technology community. He maintains his ties to the Northwest and is a Fellow of the Washington World Affairs Council in Seattle. He has served on the boards of several start-up technology companies and on state task forces and gubernatorial committees. He has lectured in business at the University of Washington, the University of Texas, and was on the faculty at Marylhurst College in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Roberts has also proven to be a successful entrepreneur. He is the founder of a mountain bike company in Portland, Oregon.
Mr. Roberts was born and raised in Germany and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia. He lived in the Pacific Northwest for over twenty years before making Texas his home. Mr. Roberts’ educational background consists of study in Munich, Germany; an M.A. degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii, and post graduate work toward his Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Oregon.
