Economic Developer Role Shifting from Deal-Making to Systems Stewardship
3 Feb 2026
News
You're in a meeting about childcare.
Not business attraction, not incentives, not site selection. Childcare. Three employers told you the same thing last quarter: they can't fill the second shift because parents can't find care after 6:00 p.m. So now you're at a table with the United Way, a hospital HR director, two daycare operators, and a county commissioner, trying to solve a problem that wasn't in your job description five years ago.
This is one example of how the economic development field is shifting.
Click here to read the original article from Area Development.
More Topics
Sam Altman Explains Our AI Future
Feb 3 2026As CEO of OpenAI, the 40-year-old billionaire unleashed ChatGPT, mainstreaming artificial intelligence and creating a $500 billion behemoth. As a new father—with another baby on the way—he’s building the world his kids will live in one day.Sam Altman says the stick of uranium in his office is nothing to worry...
At the start of 2025, the mood around industrial investment was unmistakably confident. Capital was available. Incentives were abundant. Projects were being announced across nearly every sector of the economy. On paper, companies appeared to have more location options than ever.By the end of the year, that sense of abundance...
The United Nations World Tourism Organization defines cultural tourism as “ … an activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience, and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions and products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products … encompasses … the living cultures with their lifestyles,...
