ED Now

Aaron Brickman and Lachlan Carey from the Rocky Mountain Institute recently joined an IEDC panel to discuss the historic initiatives within the Inflation Reduction Act. They emphasized the enormous opportunity for economic developers within the $369-billion act. “It’s hard to underestimate just how big of an opportunity this is nationally, regionally, and specifically for economic developers,” Carey said. “The next nine to 15 months will determine the next 15 to 30 years of capital allocation.” The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law on August 16 by President Biden, and marks the single largest investment in clean energy in U.S. history. It comes at a time when the clean energy industry is rapidly ...

As jobs are slashed across the dwindling coal industry, historic coal towns across the United States face negative population and economic growth. Some towns are now attempting to capitalize on the expanding renewable energy industry by leveraging their unique geography to spur economic growth. The coal industry has been declining in the United States for more than a decade. While it currently produces 19 percent of the nation’s energy output, this number is expected to shrink to 10 percent or less by 2025. Since 2010, the coal industry’s market capitalization has collapsed by nearly 40 percent from $46.1 billion to $18.26 billion, and year-over-year production has shrunk 24 percent. A recent breakthrough from Michigan ...

IEDC's Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO) program recognizes organizational excellence in the areas of internal and external operations, structures, and procedures. This series profiles newly accredited AEDOs, putting some of economic development's highest-performing organizations in the spotlight. This edition: Corpus Christi (Texas) Regional Economic Development Corporation.

In the past few years there have been substantial efforts to revitalize and diversify Eastern Kentucky’s post-coal economy through small business programs and other local initiatives. However, heavy flooding has and will continue to wash away much of the progress these communities make unless more is done to minimize physical damage from future disasters. Widespread flash flooding recently devastated several Eastern Kentucky counties, killing at least 39 people. The region lies within Appalachia, one of the nation’s most economically depressed and vulnerable regions. Its high poverty rate, mountainous landscape, and housing dispersed in remote valleys all exacerbate the impact of extreme weather which is likely to become more ...

Aaron N. Gruen, principal of the urban-economics, market-research, land-use policy, and pre-development services firm Gruen Gruen + Associates, shares his thoughts on how to combat skyrocketing gas and housing costs.

IEDC offers a robust paid internship program for undergraduate and graduate students during the spring, summer, and fall semesters. Interns are valuable members of the IEDC team and make significant contributions to the work we do. ED Now recently asked past interns to share a little about their experience working at IEDC and how it influenced their career.

Today, attendees of IEDC’s 2019 Leadership Summit in Fort Lauderdale will tour Florida Power & Light's Next Generation Clean Energy Center, a new, fuel-efficient power plant located in Port Everglades. The plant runs on 35 percent less fuel than the previous plant, and since 2001, FPL has reduced its use of foreign oil by 98 percent. The new plant also produces cleaner energy, cutting carbon emissions in half and reducing overall emissions by more than 90 percent. The plant has boosted the local economy as well, creating jobs and generating additional tax revenue for communities. This month, FPL also announced its "30-by-30" plan to install more than 30 million solar panels by 2030 (Renewable Energy Magazine). The initiative is ...

Green supply chains can be a way to both tackle climate change and strengthen the middle class, according to Susan Helper. Helper is a professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University, former White House staffer, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and frequent speaker at IEDC events. Because the U.S. economy is largely structured around supply chains, they are an essential part of transitioning to green technologies such as carbon-free electricity, cleaner vehicles, high-speed rail, and energy-efficient heating and cooling. Responding to climate change domestically is likely to create many middle-class jobs, according to Helper. The typical “clean economy” job pays 13 percent more than the ...