23 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week
The stories Dane thinks you need to see. March 5, 2026 edition.
Welcome to this week's issue of What Economic Developers Need to Know This Week, where we collect links, charts, and ideas about the economy and place.
This week: 23 stories, graphics, and rabbit holes that are mostly relevant to economic development.
If you are 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 # 233: Econ dev news from 115 economic development executives and organizations in 39 states.
2) 24 New Economic Development Jobs This Week: From $50,000 - $169,000, in 12 states and Canada.
3) 36 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week: The stories Dane thinks you need to see. February 26, 2026 edition.
4) Economic Development and Developers in the News # 232: Econ dev news from 40 economic development executives and organizations in 21 states.
5) Podcast 210: Turning a Military Base into a Manufacturing Engine with Eric Voyles: Yes, You Can Skip the Public Review.
6) Why you cannot build key industrial processes in California: This interactive argues that permitting barriers are now a direct competitiveness issue for advanced manufacturing and industrial expansion. Explore: Banned in California.
7) U.S. power generation by year: Low-carbon electricity growth is clear in this long-run stack, but natural gas still carries a large share of the total system.
8) The NIMBY war against Micron: A useful case study in how timeline risk can overwhelm even very large announced projects. Read: The NIMBY War Against Micron.
9) Mirror, signal, maneuver for public decisions: A practical framing for leaders who want less "announce then explain" and more early stakeholder alignment. Read: Mirror, Signal, Maneuver.
10) Manufacturing matters: New BEA county GDP estimates reinforce that manufacturing scale and growth are still highly place-specific. Read: Manufacturing matters.
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11) Manufacturing concentration maps: These two visuals help separate total manufacturing scale from local economic dependence on manufacturing.
12) Construction productivity trends: The long-run argument remains sobering, construction productivity has lagged broader non-farm gains for decades. Read: Trends in US Construction Productivity.
13) Construction productivity visuals: Use these as a quick briefing pair on why delivery speed and cost pressure persist across many project types.
14) Where housing correction has been steepest: This metro snapshot shows where home prices have fallen the most since 2022 peaks.
15) Housing timing and market age: Together these charts highlight who is buying and where local housing stock age may be shaping redevelopment demand.
16) Fast versus slow housing markets right now: This group is useful for recruiting conversations about affordability, absorption speed, and project timing by place.
17) Institutional investors and ownership mix: Large institutional landlords remain a small slice of the single-family stock in this set, which helps ground local housing narratives.
18) County peak population timing: This map is a useful way to frame where population peaked decades ago versus where growth is more recent.
19) Florida median age by ZIP: A quick reminder that within-state demographic variation can be as important as state-level averages.
20) Public opinion snapshots beyond the usual econ charts: Reading habits, teen AI sentiment, and global biomass composition are not standard econ-dev metrics, but all three are useful context for communications and civic narratives.
21) 2026 global cost of living index: A helpful cross-country reference for benchmarking place costs, especially when local conversations compare city affordability and talent attraction. Read: 2026 global cost of living index.
22) Red states are gaining babies in the post-COVID shuffle: The core story is a family-location reshuffle tied to affordability, migration, and age structure changes. Read: Red States Are Gaining Babies In The Post-COVID Shuffle.
23) Family geography chart pack: These visuals are a practical set for boards discussing school enrollment, housing product mix, and long-run workforce pipelines.
