22 Things to Economic Developers Need to Know This Week
The stories Dane thinks you need to see. November 9, 2023 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!
1) Daylight Saving Time as Americans know it was instituted by corporate lobbies, not farmers: At some point in elementary school, many American children learn that Daylight Saving Time was originally intended to give farmers an extra hour of light to work the fields. That is, in fact, a lie.
2) Three in 10 U.S. renters are at least 55 years old, according to the latest census data, as many have ditched homeownership for low-maintenance apartments.
3) America's factory boom is bringing billion-dollar projects to tiny towns like Bryant Country in Georgia where a 7.6 billion dollar Hyundai factory is about to transform the area. Across the US, spending on the construction of manufacturing facilities reached $198 billion on an annualized basis in August, an almost 66% increase from the previous year and the highest level since the Bureau of Economic Analysis began tracking the data in the 1950s.
4) 🫒 A different oil shortage: Olive oil prices have been soaring for months and keep hitting new multi-decade highs, as the regions producing the most "liquid gold" continue to battle arid conditions that have seen supplies shrink and sent the cost of the healthy fat up to $9,364 per metric ton.
5) The share of Americans who have debt in collections is hovering at a historic low, according to data from the New York Fed out Tuesday.
6) 🥛 Milk suppliers are souring over carton shortage: A supply chain snag has milk suppliers scrambling for alternative carton sources. If it continues, the shortage could result in suppliers dumping milk, higher consumer dairy prices and schools that struggle to meet federal nutrition requirements.
