Challenge West Virginia’s Kanawha Valley region, anchored by the Charleston metropolitan area, faces long-standing economic challenges including troubling population loss, below-average employment growth, lagging unemployment rates, and low levels of workforce participation. At the same time, new leadership and promising opportunities sparked a renewed sense of agency, urgency, and optimism […]
Challenge Greater Spokane has grown into the second largest metro area in the state of Washington and a significant economic driver for the Inland Northwest. The region is home to dynamic industries ranging from aerospace and life sciences to advanced manufacturing and agriculture, a full spectrum of higher education institutions,
Challenge Oakland County has been an economic leader in Michigan, often outpacing state and national averages in educational attainment, median household income, and labor force participation. Thanks in large part to its concentration of jobs in the professional services and healthcare sectors, the county managed to rebound from the job
Challenge Shelbyville is advantageously located in central Tennessee between the booming metropolitan hubs of Nashville and Huntsville. The community boasts a robust manufacturing base, rich cultural traditions like the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, and valuable natural assets along the Duck River. However, accelerating regional growth has triggered infrastructure constraints
Challenge Georgetown, Texas, has been one of the nation’s fastest-growing communities in recent years. Notably, Georgetown experienced more than 100 years of prosperity which was largely independent of the Austin metropolitan area’s expansion. Assets like Southwestern University, one of the state’s oldest higher education institutions, and a nationally recognized Beaux-Arts
Challenge Located in the heart of Texas, Waco has the building blocks required for long-term success. Advantages fueling the city’s growing population and recent economic development wins include relatively inexpensive land (with available sites along the bustling IH-35 corridor), access to multiple higher education institutions (a network encompassing Baylor University
Challenge Incorporated in 1914 in what is now the heart of the Dallas metroplex, Irving, Texas, has experienced remarkable growth over the last five decades. From Las Colinas, which pioneered the master-planned community model, to the bustling Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Irving’s forward-thinking development and successful attraction of global
Challenge Following three decades of strong population growth, Kittitas County, Washington, experienced even higher levels of in-migration in the years leading up to the 2020 Census. Anecdotal evidence suggested this trend was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as those who had flexible work arrangements, or who could afford to move
Challenge The Rio South Texas region stands at a critical juncture of binational opportunity and ecosystem evolution. As partner organizations working in tandem, the Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP) and the Rio-South Texas Education and Community Development Foundation (RSTEF) share a unified mission: ensuring residents acquire the skills
Challenge Advantageously positioned in the Texas Triangle (the megaregion consisting of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin) and served by a regional airport, College Station is a commercial hub with deep retail density. Intellectual capital is equally robust, including Texas A&M University’s (Texas A&M) flagship campus, Texas A&M—RELLIS, Blinn
