Replica & Borne: Modeling Location Siting for Economic Development

Alex Hoffman, AICP, CNU-A manages Capital & Long Range Planning and Urban Design for the City of El Paso, Texas, the 19th largest city in the US. In this role, he has worked to implement various aspects of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Strategic Plan and the City Council and Mayor’s 25 in 2025 Initiative. Fascinated by the intersection of big data, policy and design, Alex integrates his expertise in these areas to help the City make data-informed decisions. Prior to this role, Alex managed the Planning Division of the Planning & Inspections Department, as well as Lead Planner for the Long Range section and Zoning Administrator in previous positions held with the City of El Paso. Additionally, he has held various planning positions for both the City of York, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio. Alex is a graduate of the Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture as well as the University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning.

Arthur Getman is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Replica. He has previously worked at NYC DOT for nearly a decade where he served as Director of Data Analytics.

Samantha Roxas is Director of State and Local Public Policy at Replica. Prior to joining the company, she led public affairs teams for REEF Technology and WeWork, where she accelerated growth through innovative partnerships with governments and communities. Before her time in the private sector, Samantha spent over a decade in the public realm; spearheading public policy, communications, and political strategies for elected officials at all levels of government.

Tali Cantor is an urban planner and designer with over a decade of experience working across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Tali is currently the Director of Planning for the Union Square Partnership (USP), focusing on economic development and district recovery, streetscape improvement projects, and the implementation of the Union Square-14th Street District Vision Plan. Before joining USP, Tali worked as an urban designer at Grimshaw Architects, leading the public realm scope within the transportation, campus planning, and cultural sectors. She also served as an adjunct professor at NYIT, teaching GIS and place-based storytelling through mapping and site analysis.
 
Tali completed her Masters in City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a B.A. in Urban Design and Architecture Studies from New York University, focusing on urban sociology and art history. She is a certified planner (AICP) and a member of the American Planning Association. 

Tom works in the Chicago Mayor’s Office on the Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development team where his portfolio includes a number of Chicago Recovery Plan programs and priority city initiatives. Prior to working at the city, Tom worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and was an infantry officer in the U.S. Army with deployments to Afghanistan and Kuwait. Tom is from Schoolcraft, Michigan and has a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy, M.Sc. from Oxford University, and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Nadia, live in Wicker Park with their 18-month-old son, Austin.

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