August News + Updates

August 2020

News + Updates

Highlights

The Economic Impact of Montana Film Production: An Analysis of the Industry and the MEDIA Act, 2019-2020

In 2020, the Montana Film Office retained ESI to quantify the economic impact of Montana film production and the Montana Economic Development Industry Advancement Act (MEDIA Act). The MEDIA Act was created to provide a transferable income tax incentive to attract film, television and other media production to the State.

Read the report.

We're Hiring!

We're hiring for various positions including Director or Associate Director! Don't miss the opportunity to join our team. Learn more about each open position by visiting our careers page.

Upcoming Events and Sponsorships

Proud to Sponsor

DRWC Promenade

Proud to Sponsor

BlackStar Film Festival #BSFF2020

Aug 20-26

Staff and Senior Advisor Updates

We bid a fond farewell to ESI Director Dan Connelly, who starts a new venture with Marathon Capital Strategies. Mr. Connelly managed ESI's work in the state and local government practice area over the past few years. We thank Dan for his hard work and wish him the best of luck!

We also say farewell to Analyst Tom Guccione. Tom started with ESI as a Drexel co-op in 2017 and became an Analyst in 2018. Best of luck with your future endeavors!

Gina Lavery was named co-chair of ULI Philadelphia’s Local Community and Economic Development Product Council.

Lee Huang was featured on Rapping PE's podcast on "Economics, Education, and the COVID-19 response". Click here to listen.

Blane Stoddart is quoted in BizNow's "Making CRE More Diverse Will Be A Challenge". Mr. Stoddart's firm, BFW Group, is also hiring a Senior Project Manager and Project Assistant. Contact Mr. Stoddart for additional information.

Kevin Dow is now the VP of Operations for the Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia. Congratulations!

Daniel Miles was featured in the Chamber's Membership Perspective on strategies beginning to develop out of the businesses community as our region begins to shift to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

Richard Bickel is participating on the Project Screening Panel to review 29 proposed Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) submittals for FY 2021 study funding. He will also be participating in a virtual meeting on Aug 10 as a member of the of study panel for TCRP project A-46 to create a Guidebook on Ferry Transit Operations and Capacity.

David Boonin had an article published titled, “Preparing for the Post-Pandemic – Repurposing Tools” in the the Public Utility Fortnightly.

Bernie Markstein was the speaker for two webinars on the impact of COVID-19 on construction; one focused on the impact on single-family housing and one on the impact on building materials and the supply chain.

News from the Lab

AI will be the Jet Fuel Behind the Next Wave of the Digital Revolution

Our thought leaders believe AI will transform many parts of business, from customer engagement to R&D, to cybersecurity and back-office operations. Artificial Intelligence is already becoming a new way of doing business, managing risks, and driving top- and bottom-line growth.

In the Driving ROI Through AI survey, nearly 90% of companies that participated say AI is important for the future of their business (64% say it is considerably or very important). ESI ThoughtLab's full findings from this innovative study will be released in mid-September.