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 […]
Challenge Located in Anniston, Alabama, the Anniston Army Depot (the Depot) is one of a small number of US Army installations charged with neutralizing or destroying the country’s chemical weapons stockpiles, but this process was set to end in 2011. In addition to the anticipated job losses from the conclusion
Challenge Upstate New York is uniquely challenged. The region’s plight is often masked by state-level economic and demographic statistics that are positively skewed by New York City and well-off suburbs. Despite these broader challenges, the City of Corning has remained an island of stability within the region’s longstanding economic decline.
Challenge The idling of Alcoa’s aluminum production facility in Rockdale, Texas—announced at the height of the Great Recession—would ultimately put more than 1,200 employees out of work and shutter nearly two dozen local businesses that were reliant on the plant or its employees. The crisis brought together representatives from the
Challenge The Wired65 region, comprised of 26 counties surrounding the Louisville metropolitan area, presents a unique combination of assets and challenges. Home to Worldport, UPS’s international shipping hub, the area boasts a strong logistics and distribution cluster, as well as a significant automotive presence. In addition, the consolidation of the
Challenge While the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas fared better than much of the country during the Great Recession, it was not immune to the downturn. Across the four-county region, the construction, manufacturing, transportation, and farming industries were hardest hit, adding tens of thousands of workers to the unemployment
Challenge The Red River Army Depot (RRAD) has long been the single largest employer and a critical economic engine in the bi-state Texarkana region. In response to cuts in federal defense spending and Army downsizing, regional officials sought to prepare for what they anticipated would be further workload reductions and
Challenge Faced with more than three decades of stagnant population trends and lagging income and educational attainment, Muskogee, Oklahoma, was at a crossroads. Despite the area’s many assets, which included a strong base of private and public sector employers, desirable market access, and a committed group of leaders, Muskogee failed
Challenge The nine-county region served by Workforce Solutions Northeast Texas lies in a largely rural corner of the state that enjoys many substantial economic development advantages. These include proximity to Dallas/Fort Worth, access to Interstate 30, and pro-business climate with a diverse and strong foundation of major industrial employers. However,
Challenge In the mid-2000s, the Northeast Texas region and neighboring counties in Southwest Arkansas faced significant job losses associated with the realignment of the Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant. In addition, the region experienced layoffs in the manufacturing and retail sectors. Key studies completed during
