20 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week
The stories Dane thinks you need to see. January 22, 2026 edition.
Welcome to this week's issue of What Economic Developers Need to Know This Week, where we collect links, charts, tools, and ideas about the economy and place.
This week: 20 stories, graphics, and rabbit holes that are (mostly) relevant to economic development, and occasionally just funny.
If you're wondering what to do with the info in this newsletter: forward one item to a board member or elected official. It makes you look prepared.
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1) Economic development and developers in the news # 227: Econ dev news from 32 economic development executives and organizations in 18 states.
2) Podcast 205: No product, no project in Central Texas with Mike Kamerlander: Raw Dirt Is Not a Strategy
3) Raw dirt is not a strategy: Readiness wins when markets get uncertain
The reminder for communities: “shovel-ready” isn’t a vibe; it’s site data, utility certainty, entitlements, timelines, and the ability to answer hard questions fast.
4) 47 new economic development jobs this week: From $17,160 - $231,682
5) 23 things economic developers need to know this week: Last week’s edition, if you missed it
6) Houston has the strangest skyline…ever: A fun way to talk about “centers,” land use, and how growth patterns show up in the built environment.
7) U.S. enters an “electro-industrial” era: Energy + manufacturing + computing power are merging into one growth engine (and one constraint).
8) Economic development is a risk management profession: The best ED pros translate long timelines, uncertainty, and tradeoffs into plain language.
9) Big weather system coming through. Here’s what we know so far: Forecasting, but make it vibes.
10) America’s love for spicy food has surged: Consumer tastes shift fast; supply chains, retail mix, and food manufacturing follow.
Chili sauce retail volume is up 13% since 2019, while most other big condiments are down.
11) Why people are flirting on LinkedIn and job hunting on Tinder: When markets get weird, platforms get repurposed.
12) More Americans are living alone than ever before: Housing demand isn’t just “units”; it’s household formation and household type.
One-person households are now around 40M in the U.S., nearing 30% of all households.
13) America now has more job seekers than available jobs: The labor market is loosening (and that changes the leverage on both sides).
As of Nov 2025: roughly 7.8M unemployed vs 7.1M job openings.
14) Solar met 61% of U.S. electricity demand growth in 2025: Energy is now an economic development bottleneck; solar + storage is a big part of the release valve.
Solar generation rose 83 TWh (+27%), meeting 61% of the 135 TWh rise in electricity demand.
15) Tracking AI’s contribution to GDP growth: AI is showing up in GDP through hardware, software, R&D, and data center investment (i.e., place-based stuff).
The authors cite U.S. gen-AI usage at 55% of people and 37% of workers (as of Aug 2025), and estimate that these investment categories accounted for ~30% of GDP growth in Q2 2025.
16) The American worker is becoming more productive: Productivity gains are great for output; the local question is who captures the upside (and how fast displacement arrives).
17) 2025 passed the second-fewest laws in over a century: When legislatures stall, uncertainty rises (and policy swings can come from executive action instead).
18) The golden handcuffs are slipping in the U.S. housing market: A useful signal for housing turnover: the share of mortgages at 6%+ has finally overtaken the share under 3%.
19) The curious cult of Aldi: Discount retail is eating share, and “value” is a durable consumer preference when budgets stay tight.
20) Americans predict challenging 2026 across 13 dimensions: If your community leaders feel anxious, it’s not just you; pessimism dominates almost every category.
