ED Now

Kevin Crowder, CEcD, EDP, founder of BusinessFlare Economic Development Solutions, is part of the third cohort of certified Entrepreneurship Development Professionals. IEDC’s EDP credential is designed to build capacity for those supporting entrepreneurship in their communities, and demonstrates the skills and expertise to lead communities through entrepreneurship-led economic development (ELED). Why did you decide to pursue the EDP credential? In my experience, entrepreneurship has become the most important element of economic development, connecting jobs and talent to placemaking. It is also the least understood area of economic development for practitioners, and I wanted to make sure to stay relevant in this area. I also did it ...

EDA has issued a Tech Hubs Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on the program design, structure, and evaluation of the Tech Hubs program. The Tech Hubs program was enacted as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and is an economic development initiative to drive technology- and innovation-centric growth. The program will help U.S. regions become centers of innovation, and equitably and inclusively create good jobs for American workers at all skill levels. The RFI seeks input about: structuring a program that will accelerate a region’s evolution into a global leader and strengthen economic and national security; designing a competitive, inclusive, and accessible region selection process that would support ...

IEDC’s 2022 Economic Future Forum will be held next month in Richardson, Texas. A few of our conference sponsors shared some exciting economic development projects happening in the North Dallas cities of Richardson, Addison, and Allen.

Leaders in the innovation and technology space are stepping up to tackle staggering disparities for BIPOC and low-income communities by increasing the number of regional technology hubs, including current proposals in Congress to implement large-scale federal R&D funding for Midwestern and Southern metro centers. A recent Brookings webinar titled Leveraging Regional Tech Hubs to Advance Racial Equity discussed additional solutions to these disparities such as upscaling BIPOC talent and targeting companies to invest in their location’s talent base. From 2005 to 2017, five metro areas—Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and San Diego—contributed more than 90 percent of the U.S. innovation sector’s growth. ...