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Increasing Economic Mobility Through Inclusive Entrepreneurship Creating Equitable Programs to Reduce Economic Barriers
by Katlyn Cardoso and Victoria Meadows
The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) created the One and All Inclusive entrepreneurship initiative to increase economic mobility and business success for aspiring underserved entrepreneurs and business owners in the Lansing, MI, region. This article presents evidence to support the need for programs like One and All and provides a roadmap for economic development professionals to follow in creating inclusive equitable economic development programs in their communities. Onand All won a 2021 IEDC Gold Award for Economic Equity and Inclusion.

Austin’s Circular Economy Program A Greener Model of Economic Development
by Jason McCombs; Madelyn Morgan; Skyra Rideaux, CPO; and Natalie Messer Betts, CEcD
The city of Austin aims to transform the circular economy so discarded material can be put to its highest and best use. This article describes what the circular economy is, why the circular economy matters to economic development, how the city of Austin implements circular economy programming, and the challenges facing the ongoing program. Austin's Circular Economy Program received IEDC Gold Award for Business Retention and Expansion.

Creative Financing, Innovation and Job Creation Uptown Cincinnati’s Transformative World-Class Hub
by Beth Robinson, CEcD
Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) forged partnerships with community stakeholders and leaders to maximize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake the entryway into Uptown Cincinnati. This article describes how UCI formed partnerships to bring capital and investment to transform an area suffering from disinvestment into a world-class hub of innovation and job creation, underpinned by community engagement and inclusion. UCI received IEDC 2020 Excellence in Economic Development Gold Award in Economic Equity and Inclusion and a 2021 Bronze Award in Creative Financing.

Public-Private Partnerships Building Local Infrastructure by Leveraging Economic Development Projects
by Vince Yokom, CEcD, EDFP, CVA
Public-private partnerships take a variety of forms and generally speaking, any project that combines a private and public entity for the public good could be considered a public-private partnership. As an economic development tool, however, they are gaining momentum and should be considered as an option for infrastructure projects at the local level. Although P3s have been used at the national level within a formal structure for years, recently, with a renewed focus on rebuilding the country's critical infrastructure, they are also a viable tool to build local infrastructure leveraging economic development projects.

Breaking Down Silos Lessons in Multi-Jurisdictional Downtown Planning
by Larisa Ortiz and Nur Asri, AICP
This article covers an emerging planning methodology and diagnostic tool used to generate multi-faceted, data-driven strategies for place-based revitalization efforts. It features three applied case studies. The article discusses the application of the methodological approach in each place featured in the case studies and explores program design and strategies for replicability and scalability in a variety of contexts, from neighborhood corridors to small and large cities, to entire regions.