20 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week
The stories Dane thinks you need to see. July 23, 2025 edition.
Welcome to this week's issue of What Economic Developers Need to Know This Week, where we explore the evolving dynamics of our economy.
This week we have 20 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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1) Economic Development and Developers in the News # 205 - Econ dev news from 46 economic development executives and organizations in 23 states.
2) Seriously: Stop Filling Out RFIs: Let Sitehunt Do the Scoring - No more chasing down data.
3) Podcast 183: Small-Scale Manufacturing as Community Development Strategy with Ilana Preuss - The art of making small towns sticky.
4) 23 New Economic Development Jobs This Week - From $31,000 - $150,000+
19 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week - The stories Dane thinks you need to see. July 10, 2025 edition.
5) Buc-ee's: Why America loves this gas station
6) House prices are rising fast in some parts of the country:
7) It is a tough time to be running a newspaper that still depends on its print business.
8) The capital of Tennessee was named the city that Americans view most favorably out of the top 50 most populous US cities:
Explore the full ranking.
9) The death of partying in the USA, and why it matters:
10) The percent of prices that the BLS has to "impute" (basically, guess from other prices) has risen from 9% before Trump took office to 35% now:
11) The average American is pretty negative about the AI:
And in international comparisons, the U.S. stands out as almost uniquely apprehensive about AI:
12) The surprising geography of American left-handedness:
13) How a West Virginia mayor transformed his small town:
14) International buyers purchased $56 billion worth of US homes in 1 year:
Buyers from China accounted for 15 percent of all foreign purchases, followed by Canadian buyers, at 14 percent.
15) Planned new US gas-fired power plants:
16) For the first time since COVID, more than half of Fortune 100 companies have mandated workers fully return to work as hybrid options wither.
17) Americans now spend more on health care than on housing or food:
18) Tariffs might be starting to show in America's inflation rate, but where are prices rising the most?
19) How's your state doing at bringing back jobs from overseas? (via Don Erwin)
20) Here's the median income of 74 undergraduate majors for 2024:
