November 2019
Eds & Meds in the Transformation of Industrial Cities
By: Marian Kansas, Consultant

Alan Mallach’s book   The Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America   explores the rise and fall of America’s industrial cities. For us, it was an illuminating read on economic development, especially as Avalanche is advising communities across the Rust Belt.

We were especially interested in the chapter “From Factories to Eds and Meds.” Cities with rich histories like Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh have been able to weather the difficult transition in part because of their strong higher education and healthcare sectors (“eds and meds”).

Celebrating our Clients
Sohn: Chattanooga Chamber plan looks beyond past success to future needs - Chattanooga, TN, has seen incredible success over the past few decades, but leadership recognizes that they still need to prepare their economy and workforce for the future. Chattanooga Climbs, the community's new 5-year ED strategy (developed by Avalanche), will help guide the Chamber and its partners to achieving goals like increasing the average wage and generating $100 million in new investment. We look forward to seeing these bold goals come to fruition.

Republic National Distributing Company to relocate and expand operations in Pflugerville - Republic National Distributing, a beer and wine distributer, is relocating and expanding its operations in Pflugerville, TX . RNDC will invest $27 million into a new 250,000 sq. ft. facility that will hire 304 employees. An incredible win, PCDC !

Rockford Chamber, RAEDC hire consulting firm to help them partner - This month, we're starting a unification study for the Rockford Chamber and Rockford Area EDC to make their operations even more streamlined and aligned. Greater efficiencies = greater impact. We're excited to be a part of Rockford's progress!

Earlier this month, Google broke ground on a $600 million data center in New Albany, OH . This follows Facebook's 2017 investment in a $750 million data center in New Albany. (Hey, @CBusRegion, you're... as we like to say... killin' it! Congrats! #OneColumbus)

Introducing the Broadmoor Business Park VeriReady Site - The Sandoval Economic Alliance announced that their first VeriReady site is available. The site is 13 acres and is for sale or lease. We're happy to see Sandoval County and Rio Rancho add to their assets as one of the best business destinations in New Mexico.

Frisco, TX mayor shares 'secret ingredient' to being fastest-growing US city - Frisco, TX is the fastest-growing city in the U.S. according to Stacker. Frisco's mayor Jeff Cheney shares some of what's driving Frisco's population growth, including great quality of life, great schools, and job opportunities.

2019 Mac Conway Awards - Congrats to all of our clients that received a 2019 Mac Conway Award from Site Selection m agazine! Charlotte Regional Business Alliance , Columbus 2020 , Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce , Greater Des Moines Partnership , Indy Chamber , and REDI Cincinnati .
Avalanche in Action
We started November in Northwest Arkansas, where Chris and John visited with stakeholders, met with the strategic planning Steering Committee, and toured the brilliant Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (wow!). Amy traveled to Jacksonville, FL, to speak at JAXUSA's State of the Region event. She provided an update on Elevate Northeast Florida , the region's 5-year economic development strategy. Finally, Jennifer and Marian headed to Laurens County, SC, to kick off a strategic planning process with the Laurens County Development Corporation . They held interviews, focus groups, and a steering committee meeting with local leaders.

We're grateful for all of our wonderful clients and hope y'all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
The Future Of Featured Post: Six Steps to Creating Effective Workforce Development Programs
Employment is low, but firms are still having trouble finding qualified workers. Community colleges can bridge the gap, but we need to radically change both the colleges and firms' approaches to workforce development.

If we expand the role community colleges play in workforce development, we can begin to address the gaps in education and workforce skills that are preventing companies from finding the workers they need. Our biggest obstacles are lack of involvement from firms, the short-term view of community college education, and lack of funding.

Avalanche's curated news website, The Future Of, shares what we see as the most relevant news to our profession with YOU. The Future Of is designed for busy thought leaders and change makers in our field who are continuously curious but do not have enough time to cull through messy mass media to find meaningful news. Contact us for subscription information.
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Avalanche Consulting: Research, Marketing, Strategy
Avalanche Consulting   is the nation's premier economic development strategist. We are the best in the business at translating complex information into strategies, marketing messages, and motivation for action. We are deeply driven to make a positive impact and seek clients who are equally inspired to energize their economies. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Avalanche was established in 2005 and has assisted more than 150 communities across the US and abroad. 
Headlight Data Powers Detroit Data Center
Check out the  Detroit Regional Chamber's new Headlight Data Dashboard  that provides a one-stop, interactive, online portal for all economic, workforce, education, and demographic data in the 11-county Detroit region. The Detroit Data Center provides businesses, community leaders, and residents in the region with extensive data with which to make business, policy, and career decisions. 

To learn more about how Headlight can help YOUR community, visit  www.HeadlightData.com  to schedule a  demo .

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