Kenny McDonald
Little Dry Consulting, LLC
Kenny McDonald is the Founder of Little Dry Consulting, LLC, bringing 30 years of experience in site location, economic development and business development.
Most recently, he served as the president and CEO of One Columbus, the regional economic development organization in Central Ohio. During his 15-year tenure, the group was named one of the top 20 economic development organizations in the nation 7 consecutive years. His team successfully helped over 850 companies expand or locate in the area. These projects resulted in over 80,000 direct jobs and more than $50B in capital investment for the Columbus Region, including the two largest economic development projects in Ohio’s history.
Drawing on his extensive expertise both globally and locally, Kenny has developed a reputation for strategic vision and collaborative leadership, consistently forging strong partnerships between public and private sectors. His commitment to economic development is reflected not only in his professional achievements but also in his ongoing mentorship of emerging leaders in the field.
Prior to his time in Ohio, McDonald worked at the Charlotte Regional Partnership, Albuquerque Economic Development, Inc., and the Savannah Economic Development Authority. He also worked for 6 years as a global site location advisor for Fluor Corporation, one of the world’s preeminent global engineering and design firms, helping to locate industrial facilities worldwide. His clients included biotechnology, consumer manufacturing, automotive, specialty chemicals, and power generation operations.
His accolades include the Hall of Honor from the Ohio Economic Developers Association, the Business Leader Hall of Fame from Junior Achievement of Central Ohio, CEO of the Year from Columbus Business First and Columbus CEO magazine, and one of the Top 50 economic developers in the country from Consultant Connect. He was appointed to the first Investment Advisory Council (IAC) by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2016 to increase foreign direct investment in the United States and served as chairman of the International Economic Development Council in 2020.
He serves on the boards of directors of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, the United Way of Central Ohio, and multiple entities at The Ohio State University, including the Transportation Research Center, College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board, Scitech (R&D campus), and the Center for Software Innovation.
McDonald holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Dickinson State University and an M.P.A. from Georgia Southern University. He is a graduate of The Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and Harvard’s Young American Leaders program.
Kenny is originally from Montana and has been married to Jennifer for over 26 years. They have three grown children.