Blog
New Urbanism & Small Town Planning
Many of you have heard the term New Urbanism. Even if you haven’t heard the term, you’ve seen it in action. Look at Andres Duany’s Seaside for example – the first New Urbanist town in the United States. In articles about Seaside, you will find terms like “internationally famous,” and “iconic.”
Why We Should Pay More Attention to Farming
Florida's citrus growers face another tough year due to citrus greening, fruit drop, and weather challenges, leading to one of the lowest orange harvests in two decades—an impact consumers may notice through rising prices and potential shortages.
The Construction Industry - Feast and Famine
We have all heard building is booming. Interest rates have been at historic lows. End users and investors are taking advantage of this environment. In Okaloosa County, we can see the residential and commercial construction taking place. Remodeling and re-roofing are also a large part of the construction activity.
In Our Current Environment, Economic Development is Easier in Florida
What do I mean by that? For almost two years it has become increasingly harder to do economic development in many states. It started with policy. It manifested in events like riots, COVID-19, school shutdowns, lockdowns, censorship, mandates and more policies such as tax increases.
Unemployment, Underemployment, Full Employment & Maximum Employment
We’ve all heard about the unemployment rate, especially during Covid. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.8% in September of this year. Prior to the pandemic it was 3.5%. There has definitely been improvement since the pandemic high of Florida’s unemployment rate is currently 4.9% and was 3.2% prior to the pandemic.
Call It Working From Home or Remote Work, It's Here to Stay
At least for a few more years according to numerous entities reporting on the subject. Flexjobs reports the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics data analysis showed 4.7 million people, about 3.4% of the US workforce, were already working remotely before Covid 19 hit.
Florida, Here They Come
According to Florida’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, our state grew by an estimated 329,717 new residents between April 2020 and April 2021. Move.org reports Florida was the No. 1 destination for relocating Americans in 2020.
Acronyms Can Affect Economic Development
In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it's more important than ever that our nation's youth are prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve problems, make sense of information, and know how to gather and evaluate evidence to make decisions. These are the kinds of skills that students develop in science, technology, engineering, and math, including computer science—disciplines collectively known as STEM/CS.
Inflation, Cost of Living, Unemployment and Economic Development
These days it seems that nearly everyone has an opinion about the state of our nation’s economy, and the subject of inflation is at the forefront of these debates. The administration tells us there is no inflation. On the other hand the Federal Reserve says it’s just temporary. It does make you wonder how both can be true.
Is Big Tech A Threat to Economic Development?
Amazon has now surpassed Walmart as the nation’s leading retailer, purchasing more than 100 companies since its inception. They own portions of many other companies and have plans to purchase more in the future. It seems like they sell everything. We are addicted to ordering from Amazon due to low prices, vast choices and fast delivery.