The International Economic Development Council is bringing more than 350 attendees and speakers from more than 20 states and five countries to Ann Arbor Sunday for the association’s annual spring conference.

The gathering will highlight both Ann Arbor and Michigan’s rebound from the great recession and is scheduled to feature speeches from Gov. Rick Snyder, Mayor John Hieftje and a number of local business leaders.

“It will be our largest spring conference ever,” said Jeff Finkle, CEO of the International Economic Development Council.

“Ann Arbor has performed very well as a destination and it’s not just built around a destination, it’s also built around a platform of speakers that make sense and a program that people buy into.”

The conference will combine keynote speakers, mostly from Southeast Michigan, with breakout panels focusing on everything from “using analytics to build a competitive workforce” to “strategies for integrating clean technology into your economic development portfolio.”

The events — held Sunday through Tuesday — will cap off a big weekend for Ann Arbor SPARK. The private-public economic development organization focused on Washtenaw and Livingston counties held its annual meeting Friday where it released reports on the state of business development in the region.

Things are even busier for SPARK CEO Paul Krutko, who took over as chair of the IEDC in January. He said economic development organizations across the country look at SPARK as one of the more innovative private-public partnerships and he’s looking forward to showing off what has been accomplished in the Ann Arbor area.

“What we’re really trying to showcase at the conference will be our entrepreneurial strategy based on local assets,” he said.

“That’s what we’re trying to convey to people, is that in order to compete globally you have to maximize the assets you already have instead of trying to be somebody else.”

The event also will include a tour of Detroit touting the city’s “21st century comeback,” but Finkle said attendees come to the conference to see more than just the host city and region.

“It’s not just a conference that pounds the chest of Ann Arbor and Michigan for their economic recovery, though there will be some of that,” he said.

“It brings a lot of diversity in speakers from around the United States and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of blending content from Michigan and Ann Arbor with other experts from the rest of country.”

Local business leaders giving keynote addresses at the conference include AnnArbor.com Deals of the Year 2012 executive of the year: Menlo Innovations CEO Rich Sheridan and ForeSee CEO Larry Freed, who leads AnnArbor.com's company of the year for 2011 and was recently was named a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Business executives, economic development professionals and politicians dominate the conference’s speaker list, but Finkle said there is a third category of people who will address the conference that he is most interested in hearing from.

“I’m interested in hearing the University of Michigan people,” he said.

“The university has so many great tools, significant research and commercialization going on that I’m particularly interested in hearing from them… It is a true economic engine for the community and the region and U-M really understands its role in economic development.”

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2.