Recent News

Airbus executives confirmed Monday that it will raise a third aircraft assembly line in Mobile over the next few years, but there’s more: 1,000 new jobs on the new line, with new training programs operated by Bishop State Community College and Baldwin County public schools helping to meet the deman...Continue Reading

Making talent attraction easier, and more effective is top of mind for many economic developers and the businesses they support. Talent attraction has been a challenge post-pandemic, whether that means getting people already in the community to work at their highest potential or attracting talent from outside of the area...Continue Reading

The challenges faced in 2020 were unlike any other confronted in our lifetime. The global pandemic wreaked havoc on our personal and professional lives and the U.S. and global economies. The Commerce Department reports that U.S. GDP declined 3.5 percent in 2020, with the economy falling into recession in February 202...Continue Reading

Profile of the Consultants Survey Respondents At least 80 percent of those responding to our 17th annual Consultants Survey work with manufacturers of durable goods, with some of these consultants also working with other manufacturers, and three quarters are working on distribution/logistics projects. Nearly half represent clients in data processing/computer-related sector...Continue Reading

When we last took stock of Area Development’s Top States for Doing Business, it was a bit hard to gauge what “doing business” was even supposed to look like. In 2020, the country was riding one wave of COVID-19 after another, mixing times of turmoil and concern with ripples o...Continue Reading

It’s no secret that the recipe for economic success usually includes generous portions of innovation and technology. That has been part of the economic development story for many years in such places as Boston, Seattle, the Research Triangle, and Silicon Valley. But just as you can find more and more cutting-edg...Continue Reading

It seems like the ultimate good-news story. The shift toward electric vehicles will greatly improve the long-term climate health of the planet. It’ll improve human health, too, by reducing pollution. It’ll create thousands of jobs in new industries, with new manufacturing operations lifting local economies. What’s not to like? Don’t forge...Continue Reading

The digitizing of the economy is pervasive, whether you’re performing quality control in an automated manufacturing plant; undergoing a medical procedure; operating a container crane at a backed-up West Coast port; launching fabrication of a 3D-printed prototype; or putting the finishing touches on a breakthrough architectural design. Could using our ow...Continue Reading

Chances are high that if you’ve been traveling around various regions of the United States in the past few years, you have noticed a solar array where one was not previously. I have had a similar “ah-ha” moment. You may have been struck by the fact that there are vast sola...Continue Reading

The ink on Intel’s $20 billion investment deal in Ohio was barely dry in January when experts started weighing in on the long-term impact of the deal. Much of the analysis in the press centered on Ohio’s $2 billion incentives package for the $200 billion California-based company, but the ramifications o...Continue Reading

The 2022 MEP Workforce Survey conducted by America Works asked for just one response from each MEP Center and their subrecipients. I’m excited to tell you that we had 100% participation, receiving 76 responses from 51 Centers nationally. MEP Centers represent a diverse group, with 58% incorporated as independent nonprofits...Continue Reading

Nearly two years into the remote work revolution, it’s easy to feel that a lifetime has passed. However, the reality is we are just at the beginning of seeing the impacts of remote work. From working habits to commuting patterns, there is an undercurrent of change. This is especially tru...Continue Reading

This investment is to be spent on the extension of both sites, an innovation drive, and the development of new ranges. Through this program, the group reasserts its strong ambitions to achieve the targets set in its strategic plan New Horizons 2025. Read full article.Continue Reading

INDIANAPOLIS - Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation has announced a national grant competition to help community colleges improve on brand building and marketing. The Million Dollar Community College Challenge aims to help colleges to connect with adult students who need a college degree or short-term credential. Lumina says it wants to hea...Continue Reading

HOW TO SOLVE WORKFORCE SHORTAGES IN YOUR COMMUNITY Workforce shortages are a primary concern for businesses and economic developers throughout the country. For economic developers, this creates a clear and urgent challenge - find workers to support existing businesses or risk them going elsewhere. The same is true for business attraction...Continue Reading

Labor force participation rates drop when fewer people of working age are either employed or actively looking for work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of working-age people between 25 and 54 years old peaked in 1995 at 72 percent, and it has been on ...Continue Reading

As businesses throughout the country struggle to fill job vacancies, EDCs are stepping up to the plate. EDCs are working with community partners to develop innovative programs, connect talent with employers who are hiring, upskill the local workforce, and grow a pipeline of next-generation workers. Here are some of th...Continue Reading

Automation has been painted as a threat to employees, and the idea that robots will replace workers and lead to unemployment continues to circulate in some circles. The truth, however, is quite the opposite. According to McKinsey & Company, automation and AI technologies will boost business productivity and GDP growt...Continue Reading

You’re evaluating a new site. It checks all the boxes when it comes to the property, local infrastructure, and business climate. You have one more box to check — labor supply. You’re presented with a hodge-podge of numbers. How can you make sense of it all? And what’s the botto...Continue Reading

A prerequisite for a high-quality workforce is people. To upskill employees, attract remote workers, or fill a skill gap through a community college program, you first need people. That may be rather obvious, but talent attraction and retention efforts have been built on the assumption that when it comes t...Continue Reading

The superlatives are accumulating as fast as the shipping containers: Industrial real estate, largely focused on logistics, keeps setting new records, to the point where the pop-up distribution center might soon be as common as the pop-up retail spot once was. It’s gotten to the point where even a defunct drivin...Continue Reading

Students on the brink of graduating from their community college, university or vocational technology school don’t necessarily know whether their state ranks well in workforce development relative to other states. Military personnel ending a tour of duty at a base and transitioning to the private sector are likely in th...Continue Reading

As the world enters its third year of COVID-19, site selectors are doubling down on predictions they made a year ago. From reshoring and supply-chain tightening to remote working and worker shortages, site selectors are telling us that the trends exacerbated by the global pandemic will become even more pronounce...Continue Reading