Economic Development

The New Plans to Remake Appalachia’s Economy

Mayors from the region and others want the Biden administration to embrace their proposals for billions of dollars of spending, with a heavy emphasis on clean energy projects, as a way to reinvent the region as coal declines.

  • By Bill Lucia

Mile-by-Mile, Proposed Nationwide Bike and Foot Trail Sees Progress

Advocates for the trail say there are now over 2,000 miles of segments complete and that more money flowed toward the project this past year.

  • By Bill Lucia

Two-Decade Push to Build a Grocery in a Food Desert Finally Pays Off

A mix of public and private support has come together to make the project in northeast Oklahoma City possible.

  • By Bill Lucia

Another Region Offers Remote Workers $10,000—and a Bike!—to Move

Northwest Arkansas will provide a cash incentive and a street or mountain bike to qualified remote workers who relocate to the area.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Report: Amazon Got $741 Million in Tax Incentives to Build 36 Warehouses Around Chicago

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Nevada county considers allowing brothels to open for non-sexual escort services … Utah hospitals preparing to ration care … Maine town booms during pandemic.

  • By Laura Maggi

Pandemic May Alter Big Cities, But Won’t Kill Them, Experts Say

The possibility that mid-sized cities could benefit from shifts in how and where people are working also came up during Route Fifty’s Future Cities event on Monday.

  • By Bill Lucia

In California, State Lawmakers Propose $100 Billion Stimulus Plan

The proposal calls for offsetting reduced federal unemployment benefits and a program to incentivize early tax payments.

  • By Bill Lucia

How the End of the Federal Unemployment Boost Will Hurt the Economy

The $600-a-week federal boost in unemployment benefits is set to stop at the end of this month, leaving millions of people to live on substantially less money. Economists say the effects will also be felt throughout the U.S. economy.

  • By Andrea Noble

One City’s Plan to Help Local Businesses by Funding a Cash Rewards Program

As Akron, Ohio grapples with fallout from the coronavirus, the city is working to launch a mobile app where people will earn “blimp” credits for local purchases. The credits can then be used like currency at other area establishments.

  • By Bill Lucia

Virus Casts Uncertainty Over City Budget and Economic Development in a Health Care Hub

Like other localities, the coronavirus has Rochester, Minnesota facing questions about both its financial outlook and future economic growth.

  • By Bill Lucia

How Redlining Decades Ago Set Communities Up for Greater Coronavirus Risk

COMMENTARY | The Valverde neighborhood in Denver—which was once redlined—had the city's highest Covid-19 hospitalization rate.

  • By Jeremy Németh and Sarah Rowan

The Trump Administration Says a New Bailout Program Will Help 35 Million Americans. It Probably Won’t.

Experts from across the political spectrum fear that the Federal Reserve’s new Main Street Lending program won’t reach enough businesses or save enough jobs.

  • By Justin Elliott, Paul Kiel and Lydia DePillis, ProPublica

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Why a Struggling Rust Belt City Pinned Its Revival on a Self-Chilling Beverage Can

Welcome to Youngstown, Ohio, home of Chill-Can, the self-chilling beverage container you’ve probably never heard of. Officials have gambled millions of dollars and demolished a neighborhood for the product. Not one job has been created yet.

  • By Dan O’Brien, ProPublica

Coastal Towns Weigh Reopening Beaches Before Memorial Day

Towns with economies that rely on summer tourism are anxious to reopen, but leaders don’t know when it will be safe to do so.

  • By Andrea Noble

Saving Main Street: Why State and Local Governments Are Vital for Its Survival

COMMENTARY | Main Street America is facing its toughest crisis ever as people stay at home to slow the spread of coronavirus. State and local governments need to step up to help businesses stay alive.

  • By Alisha Powell Gillis

State Web Portals Try to Connect New PPE Producers with Desperate Health Care Providers

Online portals are connecting hospitals short on personal protective equipment with local businesses making the items.

  • By Andrea Noble

Sectors and States Poised to See Worst Job Losses Highlighted in New Research

About one-in-five American workers were in industries last year that are now bearing the brunt of the economic downturn the coronavirus has caused, according to estimates in one report.

  • By Bill Lucia

States Announce Regional Efforts to Restart the Economy

The moves came as President Trump declared he and the federal government have primacy over deciding when “to open up the states” amid the coronavirus crisis.

  • By Bill Lucia

A State Tries to Chart its Economic Rebound From a Pandemic

Utah has drafted a plan meant to serve as a road map for both public health and economic policies during the coronavirus crisis.

  • By Bill Lucia

California, New York Extend Mortgage Relief to Homeowners

Action taken by the states will temporarily halt foreclosure proceedings and allow residents to defer mortgage payments.

  • By Andrea Noble

Senate, White House Reach Deal on Third Coronavirus Package

Negotiations between Senate and House leaders and the Trump administration ended Wednesday morning with a deal on the nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus proposal.

  • By Andrea Noble