Challenge The Wichita Falls’ regional economy has historically been driven by its government and energy sectors, and over the past 50 years the manufacturing sector has developed as the region’s third economic engine. Recent events, however, underscore the region’s need for further economic diversification. The 2005 round of the Base […]
Challenge Located in South Carolina’s Upstate region, Greenville County is home to one of the nation’s most vibrant economies. Its long track record of attracting large-scale domestic and international investment has garnered media attention, including the front page of the Wall Street Journal and a segment on CBS’s 60 Minutes.
Challenge Part of the Puget Sound area, Kittitas County was hit hard by the 2008 recession. Like major metropolitan areas across the country, the heavily technology-dependent region saw a steep decline in economic activity as well as vital state funding. County leaders realized that traditional economic development activities centered on
Challenge The events of 2020 highlighted the importance of incorporating resiliency into economic development planning for governments at all levels. For the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum region, the need for recovery and resiliency planning predated COVID-19. Over the past five decades, residents had faced the loss of major employers due to a range
Challenge Marble Falls is part of the economically vibrant Austin metropolitan area and a gateway to Texas’s storied Hill Country. From 2002 to 2012, Marble Falls saw its employment levels increase approximately 40 percent, a trend that was forecasted to continue. However, rapid growth throughout the region also presented challenges
Challenge Bordered by rivers on three sides and the Tennessee state line on the fourth, the Purchase Region of Western Kentucky stands apart. Historically, the region’s fortunes were closely tied to the flow of goods along the inland waterways. In 2010, roughly two-thirds of the US population was within a
Challenge McCormick County, South Carolina, is rich in both natural resources and history. Immense tracks of forested public land, over 1,000 miles of lake front property, and numerous historical sites provide the county significant economic opportunities. These resources, coupled with its proximity to a rapidly growing Augusta metropolitan area, positioned
Challenge After stagnating in the 1970s and 1980s, Kenosha County experienced strong population growth through the 1990s and 2000s. Strategically positioned along Interstate 94 within the Chicago-Milwaukee Corridor, the county was also successful in growing its base of employers. However, the region’s dependence on traditional manufacturing sectors proved to be
Challenge The first decade of the 2000s saw Jefferson City falling behind regional and national competitors. From a traditional economic development standpoint, Jefferson City’s challenges were well-known: distance from the interstate and major metropolitan areas; lack of large, fully serviced business sites; a limited industrial base; and slow population and
Challenge Abilene prides itself on being a city of “firsts”: the first Texas city to create a sales-tax funded economic development effort in 1989, the first to create a downtown reinvestment zone, and the first community outside the state’s major metropolitan areas to receive a cultural district designation from the
