25 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week
The stories Dane thinks you need to see. September 4, 2025 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 25 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) Economic Development and Developers in the News # 211 - Econ dev news from 115 economic development executives and organizations in 26 states.
2) Podcast 188: Site Selectors Often Experience Your City First as Visitors with Tulsa's Renee McKenney - Integrating tourism with economic development = punching above your weight.
3) 38 New Economic Development Jobs This Week - From $45,300 – $236,892
4) 24 Things Economic Developers Need to Know This Week - The stories Dane thinks you need to see. August 28, 2025 edition.
5) Economic Development and Developers in the News # 210 - Econ dev news from 104 economic development executives and organizations in 22 states.
6) Put Sitehunt in Next Year's Budget: Here's the 3-Line Justification - Budget season's here.
7) Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything: 'Everyone is struggling to figure out what to do.'
8) Consumers are feeling pessimistic about this economy. But don't expect them to stop spending: The pessimism varies inversely with income, with the biggest earners feeling the least gloomy:
9) What the MSA's looked like in 1960:
10) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration may declare a national housing emergency this fall as the White House looks to highlight key issues for midterm campaign voters:
11) Parking mandates are one of the greatest threats to historic preservation.
12) From 2016: Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have produced the next generation of the National Hydropower Map – a visualization tool that provides updated statistics on overall capacity and performance on the nation’s hydropower:
13) The "richest countries" by three measures. GDP per person, adjusted, and by prices/hours worked:
14) The longest recession in US history was the Panic of 1873, which lasted 65 months, while the shortest was the COVID-19 recession in 2020, which lasted only two months:
15) Economic developers didn't make the list, but I'd rate their automation resistance score pretty high:
16) The college demographic cliff is coming next fall:
