10 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week

Welcome to this week's issue of What Economic Developers Need to Know This Week, where we explore the evolving dynamics of our economy.

Note: I've been traveling this week, so shorter than normal issue incoming.

This week we have 10 tools, stories, graphics, charts and videos that I think you'll find informative, useful, inspiring, and perhaps even humorous. Some are economic development related directly, and some only indirectly. 🤔

If you're wondering what to do with the info in this newsletter, send something to your board members. It will make you look good!

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Learn More

1) Podcast 195: Lessons from One of America’s Great Neighborhoods with 3CDC's Joe Rudemiller - How to Fix a Neighborhood Without Bulldozing It

2) 27 New Economic Development Jobs This Week - From $41,000 - $281.000

3) North America's LNG export capacity could more than double by 2029:

4) Sometimes I forget how empty Canada is:

5) More than 40% of your parenting time has elapsed by the time your kid enters kindergarten. Once they get into middle school it is 2/3rds gone:

6) A new report from the Institute for Family Studies finds that while apartments now make up a record share of new U.S. housing, most aren't designed for families, and that's a missed opportunity.

Americans, especially younger ones, still want space for children, and surveys show they'll pay more for apartments with extra bedrooms. Yet developers keep building smaller, one-bedroom units, partly due to outdated assumptions about risk, cost, and parking rules that penalize larger layouts.

The report argues that building more "family-friendly" apartments could not only improve housing affordability and stability but also help raise fertility rates by making it easier for young families to start and grow.

7) Camoin Associates has published an interesting white paper: Strategic Trade Show Engagement, A step-by-step guide for economic developers

8) Jeff Siegler: Public spaces need commerce.

Allowing small bits of commerce in public space doesn't cheapen it; it animates it. A park no one visits doesn't serve the public good, and a plaza with no place to sit and nothing to eat will never compete with the couch and Netflix. If we expect people to show up, we have to offer something worth showing up for.

9) Nathan Ohle (CEO of the IEDC) writing in Data Centers: The New Economic Development Gold Rush? warns that the booming demand for data centers is reshaping the nation's economic map.

While the projects promise investment and innovation, they're also concentrating massive energy and water demands in rural regions that must shoulder the costs of the world's AI-driven future.

10) America’s Semiconductor Boom is Real: