ED Now

IEDC is accepting submissions through May 30 for the 2023 Excellence and Leadership in Economic Development Awards. Workforce Solutions Borderplex’s Neighborhood Solutions Tour: Jobs Toolbox on Wheels won a Gold Award in 2022 in the Neighborhood Development category. Workforce Solutions Borderplex (WSB) in El Paso, Texas, expanded its workforce development from static centers into a mobile service, visiting neighborhoods in need of support for upskilling and improving quality of life. The project was created when the unpredictability of pandemic lockdowns forced WSB to take an innovative approach to serving communities in dire need of workforce development. The data-driven tours consider lower-wage quartile ZIP codes, unemployment ...

EDA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input and perspectives on the planning and design of the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program. The Recompete Pilot Program is an economic development initiative that will provide grant funding to distressed communities across the U.S. to create and connect workers ages 25 to 54 to good jobs and support long-term comprehensive economic development. The RFI seeks input about: structuring a program that most effectively builds capacity, creates jobs, and addresses challenges in communities grappling with persistent economic distress and high prime-age unemployment; identifying metrics to assess the success of the Recompete Pilot Program; designing a competitive, ...

Greater Seattle has experienced unprecedented and continuous economic gains since the 1990s. Global companies like Microsoft have risen to prominence and further diversified the regional economy from a historical reliance on Boeing and aerospace. Legendary companies such as Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Costco, and Starbucks have also come to call Greater Seattle home. Before the pandemic, the region ranked number one in annual GDP growth among large U.S. metropolitan areas. The Brookings Institute referred to Greater Seattle as one of five superstar regions and a top innovation hub. But like many fast-growing economies, the economic headlines hid challenges across the region. Shortage of good jobs A 3 percent unemployment rate pre-Covid ...

Montgomery County, Md., is a 500-square-mile county with 1.05 million people adjacent to Washington, D.C. The county has many strong assets, including federal labs and agencies, a thriving life science sector, and an incredibly diverse and well-educated population. One of its strongest assets is its breadth of strong, business-focused organizations that communicate effectively with one another. As in other communities, the pandemic hit industries such as hospitality, retail, restaurants, and entertainment particularly hard, and the county hit a historic unemployment high in April 2020. Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), in close collaboration with Montgomery County government, WorkSource Montgomery (WSM), Visit ...

The pandemic has forced government officials, policymakers, and economics professionals around the world to confront a chicken-or-egg dilemma: Which comes first, health or the economy? With countries worldwide experiencing a vicious cycle of lockdowns, reopenings, Covid surges, and more lockdowns, should officials pursue policies to stabilize (or stimulate) the economy first or combat the pandemic first?

September had the slowest U.S. job growth of the year, but there are signs of hope. Here is a breakdown of the good and the bad. Another disappointing month Nonfarm payroll employment grew by only 194,000 jobs after economists had predicted an increase of 500,000 jobs (250,000–700,000 range). Jobs lost -123,000: government (driven by public education job losses) -161,000: state and local government -19,000: private education 183,000 people left the labor force, causing the labor force participation rate to dip by 0.1 percent. Employment is 5 million jobs below its peak in February. GDP growth slowed to 1.3 percent in the third quarter compared to 6.7 percent in the second quarter. Signs of hope Jobs ...

As we begin to come out of the pandemic, workers across the United States are rethinking where and how they want to work. According to a Pew survey this year, 66 percent of the unemployed have “seriously considered” changing their line of work, which is a far higher percentage than during the Great Recession. First and foremost, workers want jobs that are less likely to expose them to viruses. Last month alone, supermarkets lost more than 49,000 workers and nursing homes lost nearly 20,000. Former restaurant workers are finding jobs in warehouses, former retail workers are getting vocational training, and former housekeepers are working for call centers from home. Republicans have complained that generous unemployment ...

By Colton Campbell, IEDC intern On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act of 2021, a long-awaited second round of government funding and assistance for businesses and citizens. The legislation provides a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package and a $1.4 trillion government funding package that serves as critical pandemic aid. The new bill provides $325 billion for small businesses, including $284.5 billion for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. PPP loans will be available until March 31, 2021, or until loan funds are exhausted. Twenty billion dollars has been allocated to Economic Injury Disaster Loans through the SBA. In addition, the Express Bridge Loan ...