Bios

Amy Holloway

President and Chief Sherpa
amy@avalancheconsulting.com

Amy Holloway is the energetic leader of Avalanche Consulting, Inc. For over 15 years, she has served as a strategist and targeted marketing consultant for communities across the world.

Amy founded Avalanche in 2005. In the past five years, the firm has the privilege of working for more than 40 outstanding organizations such as Team Texas, the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board, the Greater Houston Partnership, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, the Upstate South Carolina Alliance, Coahuila Mexico, GoTopeka!, the Montana Business Assistance Connection, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, Miami-Dade’s Beacon Council, and the Metro Orlando EDC, to name a few.

For nearly a decade prior to starting Avalanche, Amy served as vice president of economic development for AngelouEconomics. Before joining AngelouEconomics, Amy was an economic consultant for Nobel Prize nominated Dr. M. Ray Perryman at The Perryman Group.

Amy is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of strategic planning and marketing. At home, she serves on the boards of the Austin Creative Alliance and The Creative Fund. She is a graduate and active alumnus of Leadership Austin and won AU40’s Austinite of the Year award in government and public affairs in 2010. Her B.B.A. and M.S. degrees in environmental economics are from Baylor University.

Chris Engle

Vice President and Chief Analyst
chris@avalancheconsulting.com

Chris Engle brings sixteen years of economic development experience including fourteen years in economic development consulting and two years at the Austin Chamber. His experience and expertise includes target industry research, asset analysis, real estate feasibility, technology assessments, and site selection. He has focused his career on technology-based economic development and bringing the latest tools and data to his client projects. He recently completed target industry studies in South Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky.

Chris has created economic development plans and real estate assessments for over 50 communities across the US and Europe – including Providence, Rhode Island; Gainesville, Florida; Hampton Roads, Virginia; Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; Anniston, AL; North Carolina; Northern Kentucky; Quad Cities, Illinois; San Joaquin County, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the Czech Republic; and Portugal. His corporate clients have included Applied Materials, Dell Computer, Gables Residential, Opus Development, and Stratus Properties.

Chris is a frequent speaker at site selection and economic events and is a published writer and commentator in national and local media. He holds an economics degree from the University of Texas, and has completed studies at Columbia University-New York City and the Instituto Technologico de Monterrey (ITESM).

Tony DeLisi

Research Manager
tony@avalancheconsulting.com

Tony DeLisi is Avalanche’s Research Manager. His expertise is in economic and industry research, trend analysis, client support, and strategic planning.

Prior to joining Avalanche, Tony was Director of Research at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, where he supported economic development initiatives for the region. He also worked as an independent consultant, performing project work for New Economy Strategies and other firms, including a Knowledge Economy Strategy for Greater Gainesville and a BRAC-related Regional Workforce Analysis in Maryland. He has additional experience as an Associate Project Manager at Angelou Economics, where he worked on a diversity of site selection and economic development plans. Prior to that, he served as a Planner and GIS Technician with TRC Solutions in San Francisco. At TRC, he helped plan and access impacts for major energy infrastructure projects.

Tony holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He also holds a BS in Earth Systems with a focus in Land Management from Stanford University. The son of a US diplomat, Tony grew up overseas, living and traveling in countries throughout Asia and Africa. During that time he developed an appreciation for the diversity of urban experiences across the globe. His international and domestic travels inform his perspective on regions and their unique attributes. He also holds a Bachelors Degree in Earth Systems with a focus on Land Management from Stanford University. Tony has a diverse range of overseas experience.

Noelle Salerno

Marketing Manager
noelle@avalancheconsulting.com

Noelle Salerno is Avalanche’s Marketing Manager.  Her specialties include marketing strategy, customer relations, and international business.

Prior to joining Avalanche, Noelle was Executive Team Leader at Target, where she oversaw guest relations and drove sales via strategic planning and management of daily store operations.  Her additional experience includes creating and implementing marketing plans for various fundraisers and product launches as the Program Assistant for the University of Florida CPR & First Aid Training Center.  Prior to that, Noelle interned at Centa Business Services in London, where she helped carry out their marketing initiatives and developed presentations for business startup seminars.

Noelle holds a MA in International Business and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Florida.