21 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week

The stories Dane thinks you need to see. January 23, 2025 edition.

23 Jan 2025 — 4 min read

`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 21 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) Can We Decipher the Secrets of an Abandoned Lot? Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the weeds.

2) Podcast 157: An Optimistic Reimagining of the City with Coby Lefkowitz - Making cities work, one block at a time, or the art of not building parking lots.

3) 20 New Econ Dev Jobs This Week - In 12 states. From $51 - $250k

4) 22 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week - The stories Dane thinks you need to see. January 16, 2025 edition.

5) Economic Development and Developers in the News # 178 - Econ dev news from 43 economic development executives and organizations in 26 states.

6) Where wealth is most concentrated within and between communities, cities and states: Soaring wealth inequality has remade the map of American prosperity

7) From the same source as the previous image is this look at where wealth inequality is present in communities across the US:

8) This was interesting from Dr. Ronda Sauget: The appeal of tertiary markets with their combo of skilled workforce, high productivity, and budget-friendly living, making businesses swoon over these "micropolitan" hotspots.

9) Number of unemployed persons per job opening by state:

10) Bank robberies over time:

11) Manufacturing wages by country:

12) US December manufacturing output exceeded expectations:

Sitehunt) As you may, or perhaps not know – not only do I publish the Econ Dev Show newsletter and podcast for free every week, but over the past year, I've also been developing a groundbreaking tool for economic development organizations: Sitehunt.

I've been told it's the first truly practical application of AI in economic development.

Your peers agree. In its first year alone, Sitehunt is already being used by EDOs of all sizes across the country.

Here's what it can do:

Automatically research and enhance your existing buildings and site database--or even create one from scratch.
Continuously discover new, suitable buildings and sites within your communities to grow your economic development inventory.
Generate compelling marketing content for your sites.
Instantly analyze RFIs and match them to your inventory, ensuring you never miss an opportunity from a site selector.

As we approach the end of the year, now is the perfect time to think about 2025. Can I give you a demo? I promise you'll be amazed at what Sitehunt can do.

Sign up for a demo.

13) Home prices surged, especially in the midwest: