22 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week
The stories Dane thinks you need to see. February 8, 2024 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 22 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) This is a very intriguing idea: Retail as a service.
For many years, ground floor retail were profit centers. Building owners today need to rethink those spaces as marketing expenses. This will not just help specific buildings but will give a boost to neighborhoods in their entirety.
These challenges were a long time in the making. Retail has been challenged by online shopping since the late 1990s. And the technology that has made WFH possible has been around for over a decade. The changes that took place in where people worked and shopped weren't created by the Covid-era, they were merely accelerated by it.
The status quo -- high rents for ground floor spaces, significantly reduced office occupancy rates -- is obviously unsustainable. Fixing this is going to require wrenching changes, including a rethink of the basic CRE business model.
2) What happens when you build a stove that runs on batteries? Turns out you can boil water in seconds:
3) Do your state leaders 'get' economic development, from Camoin Associates:
4) Friend of the show Ben McDaniel, Economic Development Director for the Barrow-Braselton Joint Economic Development Authority shares his strategies to stand out on LinkedIn and methods to put AI to work for you:
