Entire Winter 2021 issue

Building a Welcoming Economy: How Local Economic Development Can Support Immigrant Business Owners, Investors and Entrepreneurs

by Steve Tobocman
Across the U.S., immigrants are helping to revive economies as small business owners, startup founders, high-tech employees and exporters. Organizations like Global Detroit and the Neighborhood Development Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul have developed successful immigrant-inclusive economic development strategies. Their work offers lessons and approaches that are replicable in cities and communities of all sizes.

Implementing Long-Term Inclusion Initiatives: How to Develop and Sustain Meaningful Economic Inclusion Efforts

by Beth Robinson
Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) launched its economic inclusion initiatives to ensure that existing residents benefitted from new development in Cincinnati’s Uptown neighborhoods. This article shares examples of success, how efforts are measured, and how organizations can implement a similar strategy. UCI received IEDC’s Gold Award in Economic Equity and Inclusion.

Creating a Website for Success: Tools for a Responsive, Innovative Website

by Dana Millard
Many economic development organizations struggle with their online presence. There are several key aspects your organization needs to consider with your site such as the visitor’s experience, the information you want to convey, and being purposeful in updating your content. This article aims to give you the information you need as you develop or review your own economic development website.

Powerful Redevelopment: 100-year-old Power Plant Powerhouse Brings New Energy to Sustainable Student Center

by Donna Walker, MBA, MEDP
This article examines how a partnership between a Midwest utility and a college led to maximizing the potential of a former coal-fired power plant into a sustainable redevelopment project. This collaboration led to Alliant Energy receiving IEDC’s Gold Award for Partnerships with Educational Institutions for the Beloit College Power-house facility project. 

Planting the Speed in Iowa: Expanding Broadband to Prepare for the Future

by David Lyons
The Sustainable Innovations team at Greater Dubuque Development worked with the city of Dubuque to build new partnerships in public and private sectors to expand the broadband network and increase providers. The initiative wasn’t only about staying globally competitive, it was about being prepared for a modern workforce. The initiative received IEDC’s Gold Award for Resiliency, Recovery and Mitigation.

Steps to Revitalizing Hamilton’s Downtown: Added Challenge of Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Judy Lam
Hamilton is a mid-size city in Ontario, Canada. This article reveals the steps that Hamilton took to successfully revitalize its downtown.  Now with a new challenge – the impact of the pandemic – the city has acted quickly with actions that it hopes will assist in the survival and recovery of small businesses that are crucial to the success of downtowns.