USDA Rural Development Launches Placemaking Toolkit

USDA Rural Development and The University of Kentucky have launched a new digital placemaking toolkit for rural communities. This will allow leaders across America to access resources that will assist in assessing their communities for placemaking readiness.   Placemaking includes plans to create quality places where people want live, work, and visit. This can be created[…]

New Rural Community Resources Guide Available

The USDA and EDA have teamed up to offer assistance in improving communities as places to live and work. This new guide outlines the programs available to help community organizations access USDA and EDA resources to build strategies to boost economic development in rural America. The four focus areas are: Planning and technical assistance Infrastructure[…]

The Race for Industrial Space

The need for industrial logistics space has never been higher. In compiled research by JLL across sixty US markets, vacancy rates for warehouse space is the lowest on record. Fueling this gap in supply is the fact that three quarters of the industrial warehouse space in the United States is twenty years or older. This[…]

“Appalachia Meets World” with Will Warren

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the word Appalachia? Often people think of the challenges or the despair they have read or heard about. Growing up in the coalfields, Will Warren knows this story all too well: how an extractive economy and dependence on the coal industry has devastated[…]

Beyond the Tesla: Resilient Energy Storage and Deployment

Teslas and other electric cars have quickly become popular among consumers who want to reduce their carbon footprint without compromising performance. But what about other types of vehicles and equipment, particularly those made for industrial uses with large diesel-powered engines? And how could greener forms of energy be effectively stored to lower costs and provide[…]

Economic Gardening® in Practice: Two Regions’ Experiences

As detailed in a prior post, Economic Gardening® is a strategy that identifies innovative local companies that—with some guidance—have substantial potential. Companies that successfully complete the program can benefit from tools and insights to strategically grow their business on a regional, national, or global scale. This approach to economic development was created by the National[…]

Brownfields Safe Reuse and Investment Packages: A Roadmap for Communities

Redevelopment of a blighted or contaminated site is not an easy task, however, there are steps you can take to reduce the risks involved in the process and attract the right investment.  Communities and private investors often think about redevelopment from two different perspectives.  Understanding this, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Brownfields and[…]

Economic Gardening®: Nurturing High-Potential Local Companies for Job Growth

When you think of economic development strategies, your mind may first go to a local or state agency offering a bevy of tax incentives and other financial goodies to a large company that is considering moving to the area and providing new job opportunities to local residents. Alternatively, you might think of a program helping[…]

Webinar Series Coming this Fall: Catalyzing Redevelopment in Economically Distressed Areas

A Three-Part Webinar Series offered by EMS and Vita Nuova, LLC in conjunction with US EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization The Real Estate Development Academy Program (RE-Development Academy) is hosting a series of webinars focused on successful redevelopment practices as a lead in to a Brownfields University Workshop offered at the National Brownfields[…]

Brownfield Redevelopment in Action: Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is an Ohio town known for auto manufacturing, including renowned products such as the U.S. military Jeep. In 2015, Jeep announced that there would no longer be a need for Toledo’s South manufacturing plant, and the area was subsequently deemed a brownfield. With this designation, the site became part of the U.S. EPA’s Brownfields[…]