In September 2017 Amazon issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in North America to bid on a second Amazon headquarters.  The prize for winning HQ2, as it was called, was $5 billion in new capital investment and 50,000 new jobs. Amazon received 238 proposals for HQ2. In the end, Amazon […]

Economic development strategies work best when they are designed to capitalize on a demographic or economic trend.  The data is clear that the 77 M Millennial generation in America strives to live in an urban mixed use environment where they can walk or take a quick Uber or scooter ride to where they want to

Workforce and talent will continue to be driving forces in site location, retention, and expansion decisions.By Rebecca Kusner of R4Workforce We’ll see communities adapting and integrating new technology, businesses identifying and hiring for skills, and job-seekers/workers picking jobs based on the quality of the workplace in 2019. Role of technology. From Artificial Intelligence to block

State government leaders across the union are embracing the federal Opportunity Zone program in an effort to create a range of new state government incentives designed to jump start this new federal government program in the 8700 federal certified Opportunity Zone sites. Arkansas S.B. 196. Enacted February 26, 2019. Legislation was passed by both houses

The steady growth in e-commerce will not only continue in 2019 but will increase as more shoppers look to their computer and not their car to drive to the mall to buy their goods and services.  The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce estimated that in the third quarter of 2018 e-commerce retail sales

Politics, like business, can be ugly.  The current leadership in Washington in both the White House and the Congress is anything but pretty.  However, Trump Administration actions to address the national trade imbalance, reduce federal regulation of business and implement the federal tax reform legislation is having an overall positive impact on the economy.  Trump’s

A mullet, the infamous haircut of the 1990s, is thankfully not a trend but a fad.  Trends are longer term and has a lasting impact.  From an economic standpoint, globalization is an example of a trend impacting corporate site location that has driven many U.S. companies to search for lower cost global production facilities as

The business costs of a community impact its attractiveness for economic activity. Business Costs include the wage rates needed to be paid for workers in the relevant industry, home prices and other major expenses and transportation costs including lost time in traffic congestion. Employee wage rates for a given industry have a substantial impact on