Economic development organizations sometimes have to perform a high-wire act in promoting their central business districts without ignoring – or worse, harming – other business districts in the community.

Category: Insights, Quality of Life
Tagged: Charlotte, Downtowns, Nashville, Quality of Place, Richard Florida, Wichita,

Plastics, furniture and automotive top the week’s expansion news, with investment and job creation announcements from Dow Chemical, Ashley Home Furniture and JTEKT.

Category: Deals, Job Creation, Site Selection
Tagged: Ashley Home Furnishings, Dow Chemical, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina auto manufacturing, Texas manufacturing,

In the past four years, only seven of the nation’s 100 biggest metros added more jobs than they lost during the recession, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Five of those cities were in Texas. What has kept the top metro job creators so resilient – and what are other cities doing to catch up?

Category: Job Creation, Research
Tagged: Austin TX, Charleston SC, El Paso TX, Houston TX, Nashville TN, private sector employment, recession, San Antonio TX, Texas,

An analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows more than 459,000 financial services jobs – at banks, insurance companies, stock brokerages and real estate firms among others – were lost from February 2008 to February 2012.

Category: Job Creation, Research
Tagged: banking & finance, Charlotte financial services, financial services, New Jersey financial services, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Bridgestone, Corning and Ross Stores make expansion announcements that will lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs.

Category: Deals, Job Creation, Site Selection
Tagged: Akron OH, Bridgestone, Chattanooga TN, Corning, Kansas, Ross Stores, South Carolina, Tennessee economy,

Walkability is becoming a key quality of life initiative for communities trying to attract talent and business. What makes a city walkable, and what can cities do to draw more foot traffic to their downtown districts?

Category: Insights, Quality of Life
Tagged: bike lanes, Chattanooga TN, Dalton Ga., Livability, Nashville TN, pedestrian-friendly, talent attraction, urban development, Waco TX, walkability, Wichita KS,

How important is small business and entrepreneurship to economic development? The reality is that small companies and entrepreneurs create a bulk of the job opportunities. That’s why everyone from demographer Joel Kotkin to Richard Florida spends a lot of time talking about entrepreneurship as an engine for job creation and drawing enterpreneurial talent.

Category: Insights, Job Creation
Tagged: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Joel Kotkin, Kentucky small business, Richard Florida, RUPRI, small business, South Carolina Small Business Network, Tennessee and entrepreneurship,