Matt Tackett

Matt Tackett serves as President of the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC), representing 17 states across the southern United States. At SEDC, he oversees a membership network that has generated roughly $1 trillion in capital investment over the past five calendar years and is projected to create more than 1,000,000 new American jobs. As President, Tackett serves as the Council’s principal executive and liaison to industry and government, both domestic and international. His leadership has driven significant expansion of the SEDC network and services, including the American South foreign direct investment initiative and the Council’s public affairs initiative.

Before joining SEDC in June 2022, Tackett served as President and CEO of the Kentucky Association for Economic Development (KAED), a multi business economic development membership organization. During his tenure, he revitalized KAED through administrative and programmatic reforms, launching strategic platforms that strengthened professional capacity and advanced economic development across the Commonwealth. Under Tackett’s leadership, KAED delivered major initiatives including a $100 million grant program, global marketing and research efforts, legislative engagement, certified education programs, and a COVID recovery and resilience initiative aimed at strengthening Kentucky’s long term economic prosperity. These efforts helped position KAED as, at one point, the nation’s largest state level economic development membership association.

Prior to KAED, Tackett served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Gas Association and as Deputy Director in the Office of the Governor of Kentucky. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and resides in Kentucky with his wife Ashton and their children Brooks and Olivia.