ED Now

Led by the City of Tucson Office of Economic Initiatives, the Southern Arizona Coalition for Climate Adaptation and Resilience was named one of 60 finalists in EDA’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge out of more than 500 applicants from across the U.S. Though they did not win the phase two award, the region came away stronger and the coalition is staying together to maintain its commitment to building back better.

After a disaster, while news headlines concentrate on immediate search and rescue efforts, the critical leadership work for economic developers and local officials is to address recovery challenges. IEDC, in partnership with ICMA (International City/County Management Association) and with funding from FEMA, has developed a series of in-depth case studies to highlight successful recovery strategies. After a 2014 chemical spill into the Elk River left nine of West Virginia’s counties without clean water for days and weeks, the Charleston area took steps to improve the region’s image and governmental practices. In the aftermath of the public health and economic disaster, the state proposed stricter regulations for larger ...

The new CitiesSpeak podcast, hosted by National League of Cities CEO and executive director Clarence Anthony, gives listeners a close look at local leadership across the United States. His guest on the first episode was Mitch Landrieu, who served as the mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018 and is now a senior advisor under the Biden Administration in charge of coordinating the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The episode focused on the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, part of the Build Back Better plan. Landrieu’s experience as mayor has assisted him in his new role. His tenure as mayor was “where the rubber meets the road” whereas federal positions often feel as if they are ...

On the last day of IEDC’s 2022 Leadership Summit held in Coachella, Calif., Clint Nessmith, CEO of Resource Development Group, led a panel of leaders of successful and innovative regional partnerships in exploring the unique benefits a regional organization can create, as well as difficulties faced by regional developers, from navigating politics to today’s evolving economic development field. Nessmith opened the panel by espousing an “economic development truth”: all economic development is regional. In selling a project or proposal, developers must look at their work on a regional level, leveraging their region’s vibrant core, access to housing, quality schools, and other features. In failing to do so, ...

The “deal of the century” is on the table as cities line up their pitches for Amazon’s second headquarters location. Although just one city can win the proposed $5 billion facility, many places competing for HQ2 can benefit from the process. 

Image:  Flickr Creative Commons / Frank Fujimoto / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Last month, N.Y. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the winners of the Upstate Revitalization Initiative (North Country Public Radio). The Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, and Central New York regions each took home $500 million in economic development funding that will be phased in over a five-year period. The competition challenged seven of New York’s 10 Regional Councils to put forward the best possible plan for how they would spend the prize money. The money will support infrastructure, manufacturing, tourism, technology, workforce development, and other various projects. The four regions not receiving the grand prize will still get $50 million in funds. The initiative follows the Buffalo Billion which, as its name suggests, pledged ...

No man is an island, and the same concept applies to communities and their business retention and expansion (BRE) efforts. Though BRE is built upon strong local networks, it pays to keep an eye on regional and global trends. Regional cooperation strengthens BRE by: Expanding your network of partners; Creating a stronger workforce, as laborsheds typically cross multiple boundaries; and Allowing a better picture of broader regional trends through data-sharing (JumpStart). Think globally, retain and expand locally: Global trends also impact BRE efforts (Brookings). After Columbus, Ohio’s regional EDO, Columbus 2020, realized its foreign-owned firms were too busy with day-to-day operations to fully explore global opportunities, it ...