Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development

By Dane CarlsonBusiness Government Marketing Non-Profit

Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development episodes

November 09242: You Can't Recruit Workers Who Can't Find Childcare with Nicole Riehl
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Nicole Riehl, president and CEO of Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC), about the childcare crisis hiding in plain sight in America's workforce.
Nicole explains why communities can't simply recruit new jobs without considering whether workers can actually show up, why childcare is simultaneously unaffordable for families and financially challenging for providers, and how employers can become part of the solution. From a Colorado ski town with 76 babies born annually and just eight licensed infant and toddler childcare spaces to employers building facilities and partnering with local operators, Nicole shares real examples of creative solutions.
She also walks through how economic developers can assess local childcare supply, demand, and affordability, bring the right partners together, and turn a seemingly impossible problem into a practical workforce development strategy.
10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
Treat childcare as essential workforce infrastructure. When recruiting a company bringing 200 jobs to your community, don't just ask whether the workers exist. Ask whether those workers can reliably show up and stay employed. Childcare availability directly affects workforce participation, recruitment, retention, and productivity.
Conduct a local childcare supply assessment. Start by identifying the number of licensed childcare facilities and available spaces in your community. Break that inventory down by age group, particularly infants and toddlers, and by operating hours. State childcare licensing agencies and Child Care Aware of America can provide useful starting data.
Look beyond traditional business hours. Childcare shortages are often especially acute for employees working second shifts, third shifts, evenings, and weekends. When recruiting manufacturing, healthcare, or other shift-based employers, investigate whether childcare operating hours align with the jobs you're trying to attract.
Measure affordability against actual local wages. Childcare availability means little if employees cannot afford it. Compare local childcare costs against wages in existing and prospective industries. Nicole cites a federal affordability benchmark of approximately 7% of household income, while some families spend substantially more. Identify available public funding programs that might close the gap.
Include childcare demand in your economic development projections. When planning a new industrial park, technology campus, or major employer expansion, estimate how the additional workforce and anticipated population growth will affect childcare demand. Address potential shortages before they become recruitment and retention problems.
Explore shared childcare facilities for multiple employers. A single employer may not have enough demand or financial capacity to support a childcare center alone. Multiple businesses in an industrial park or employment district may be able to jointly invest in a facility that serves their combined workforce.
Don't assume employers need to operate childcare centers themselves. Steamboat Ski Resort owns and operates its facility, but Nicole explains that this arrangement is relatively uncommon. A hospital in western Colorado helped develop a 100-child facility and partnered with an existing local childcare operator. Look for opportunities to match employers with experienced providers who want to expand.
Use economic development tools to lower childcare development costs. Local governments and economic development organizations can support childcare projects through land contributions, assistance with zoning and land-use approvals, and financial partnerships. These tools can help make projects feasible without requiring the public sector to operate the facilities.
Consider solutions beyond building new facilities. A new childcare center isn't always the answer. Employers might offer childcare stipends or tuition assistance, help an existing provider add a classroom, or partner with a provider to extend operating hours. The right solution depends on the workforce's actual needs and the local childcare market.
Help employers move from recognizing the problem to implementing a solution. Use the free Employer Childcare Navigator, developed by EPIC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, to help businesses assess their options, explore case studies, and identify potential providers. EPIC's childcare design lab model also demonstrates how technical assistance, financial planning, and implementation support can help employers move from an idea to an operating solution. Learn more at epicimpact.org.
Special Guest: Nicole Riehl.
Links:
Nicole Riehl | LinkedIn
Employer Childcare Navigator - Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
EPIC Impact | Executives Partnering to Invest in Children
Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC): Overview | LinkedIn
Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) - YouTube
EPICimpactorg - Facebook
Nicole Riehl of EPIC - playlist by Produce Your Podcast | Spotify
29 min
November 02241: The Industry Hiding in Your Tourism Brochure with Sandy Davis and Ryan Cannon
In this episode Dane Carlson talks with Sandy Davis of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation and Ryan Cannon of Golf Tourism Solutions about a business recruitment opportunity hiding behind decades of tourism success.
Myrtle Beach knew how to attract golfers; the next question was how to attract the companies that make, supply, and support the game. Sandy and Ryan explain how they combined recruitment expertise with golf industry relationships to pursue manufacturers, technology companies, and suppliers. They connect that effort to local workforce programs, an existing market of golfers and courses, and residents’ need for better-paying, year-round jobs.
For economic developers, the conversation offers a practical challenge: look beyond what your community’s biggest asset does today and ask what else it could support.
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10 Actionable Takeaways For Economic Developers
Map the businesses behind your biggest attraction. List who makes the products, supplies the equipment, maintains the facilities, and develops the technology behind the experience visitors come to buy. Myrtle Beach’s opportunity extends from playing golf to producing and supporting the game.
Narrow your target until you can build a prospect list. Sandy points out that “advanced manufacturing” needs more definition. Identify particular products and operations that fit your assets, such as golf carts, batteries, or turf equipment, then identify the companies making them.
Ask prospects how they already know your community. Sandy repeatedly met business leaders who had visited Myrtle Beach to play golf but didn’t know it wanted industrial investment. Their answers revealed both a relationship to build on and a business message that wasn’t getting through.
Recruit alongside someone who knows the industry. Golf Tourism Solutions brings golf relationships and market knowledge; the economic development corporation brings recruitment and site selection expertise. Identify that complementary partner in your community and put both sets of expertise in front of prospects.
Give the trade show a job to do. Choose target companies and arrange conversations before arriving. MBREDC used a lead-generation company to set meetings, and early outreach developed into continued discussions and repeated visits by a prospective company.
Make customer access part of your location pitch. Show prospects who already uses their products in your region. For a golf company, Myrtle Beach offers local courses, residents, and visiting golfers, creating a potential market alongside a place to operate.
Build the workforce pitch around actual jobs. Match an employer’s needs to specific training capabilities. The guests connect golf management and agronomy programs with CNC, welding, and technology education, showing how several programs could support different parts of the same business.
Follow a product into its other markets. Golf carts led the partners to batteries and chargers, then to campgrounds that could use those products too. Look for adjacent customers that give a prospect additional reasons to consider your region.
Explore whether production could become a visitor experience. Ryan suggests golf manufacturing tours similar to brewery visits. Ask whether a prospective manufacturer could connect production with tours, demonstrations, or product experiences that appeal to visitors already coming to town.
Make the benefit to residents explicit. Sandy’s goal is year-round employment, better pay, and benefits in a community facing higher living costs. Use those needs to guide target-industry decisions and evaluate what a prospective project would actually add.
Special Guests: Ryan Cannon and Sandy Davis.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
Can Myrtle Beach Build The Next Carlsbad-Style Golf Industry Cluster?
The agency that drives Myrtle Beach golf has a new leader. What drives him? - The Golf Source of Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach Golf - Trusted Info on Courses, Packages, Vacations & More
Horry County - Best Place to Start a Business, Workforce Agency & Myrtle Beach Economic Development
Sandy Davis | LinkedIn
Ryan Cannon | LinkedIn
41 min
October 26240: Small Town, Big Tech with Victoria Archuleta
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Victoria Archuleta, Senior Economic Development Director for the Village of Los Lunas, New Mexico, about what happens when a small community starts attracting some very big companies.
Located just south of Albuquerque, Los Lunas has grown from a quiet bedroom community into an industrial powerhouse, with major investments from Meta, Amazon, and companies working in advanced technology and energy. Victoria shares how the village is managing that growth, why its first economic development strategic plan was a game changer, and how infrastructure limitations, particularly electricity and transportation, can make or break major projects.
They also discuss the importance of building on a community's existing strengths, engaging residents in economic development decisions, supporting local businesses, and balancing industrial expansion with small-town character.
It's a conversation about punching above your weight, planning for the growth you want, and discovering that sometimes the biggest obstacle to economic development isn't attracting companies. It's having the infrastructure ready when they arrive.
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Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
1. Build your strategy around what makes your community different.
Los Lunas benefits from New Mexico's longstanding strengths in scientific research, military installations, and advanced technology. Identify the assets, institutions, industries, and geographic advantages that distinguish your community, then target businesses that need those particular strengths rather than chasing every emerging industry.
2. Make infrastructure readiness part of your recruitment strategy.
Los Lunas has reached the finalist stage on major projects only to lose opportunities because electricity couldn't be delivered quickly enough. Work directly with electric, gas, water, and wastewater providers to understand current capacity, expansion costs, and realistic delivery timelines before a prospect comes calling.
3. Create a strategic plan that actually influences decisions.
Los Lunas recently adopted its first economic development strategic plan, a 119-page document developed with Better City. It identifies specific targets, including aerospace, defense technologies, health and biosciences, and logistics. Use strategic planning to prioritize industries, infrastructure investments, and economic development activities over the next five to ten years.
4. Don't underestimate how much your community wants to participate.
Los Lunas received nearly 600 responses to its strategic planning survey and held three town halls, including a community visioning workshop. Invite residents, business owners, and people living in surrounding unincorporated areas into the process. Their priorities may differ from yours, but those concerns can reveal important barriers to growth.
5. Treat transportation as an economic development issue.
Traffic emerged as one of the biggest concerns during Los Lunas's strategic planning process. The village is pursuing a major interchange and bridge project to improve connectivity. Coordinate with public works and transportation officials so that road capacity, commuting patterns, and freight access are considered alongside industrial recruitment.
6. Look for the next generation of businesses your existing employers can attract.
Meta's presence has created opportunities for Los Lunas to pursue related suppliers and supply-chain businesses. Pacific Fusion's component manufacturing operation presents another opportunity to build on the regional technology ecosystem. Map the suppliers, service providers, and complementary industries associated with your existing employers, then use those relationships to develop new recruitment targets.
7. Connect major employers with small, locally owned businesses.
Victoria describes how Meta orders dozens of donuts from a local bakery, illustrating how major employers can support smaller businesses throughout a community. Help local companies identify procurement opportunities with large employers, encourage local purchasing relationships, and make sure economic development benefits extend beyond the industrial park.
8. Educate residents about what economic development does—and doesn't—control.
Residents frequently ask Victoria to bring retailers such as Chick-fil-A and Whataburger to Los Lunas. She uses those conversations to explain the distinction between industrial economic development and retail growth driven by population and market demand. Clearly communicate your organization's responsibilities, priorities, and limitations so that residents understand what you're working to accomplish.
9. Strengthen regional partnerships and workforce pipelines.
Los Lunas works with the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance and benefits from proximity to institutions including the University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College, and New Mexico Tech. Develop strong relationships with regional economic development partners and educational institutions to support employer recruitment, workforce preparation, and emerging industry opportunities.
10. Don't let business attraction overshadow retention and expansion.
Meta's continued expansion in Los Lunas demonstrates the value of maintaining relationships with existing employers. Victoria emphasizes that economic development isn't just about attracting companies; it's also about retaining, developing, and supporting businesses of every size. Make regular employer conversations, expansion support, and attention to existing business needs part of your economic development work.
Special Guest: Victoria Archuleta.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
Victoria Archuleta | LinkedIn
Los Lunas, NM - Official Site | Official Website
Village of Los Lunas, Economic Development (@loslunasecondev) • Instagram photos and videos
Los Lunas is A Community That Works
Los Lunas Economic Development: Posts | LinkedIn
Economic Development Strategic Plan | Los Lunas, NM - Official Site
Los Lunas approves tax incentives for Meta data center - Albuquerque Business First
28 min
October 19239: Your EDO Website Looks Great. So Why Isn't It Working? with Max Karren
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Max Karren, founder of Choose Our City, about why economic development websites need to do more than look pretty.
Max explains how search engine optimization (SEO) is evolving as site selectors increasingly use ChatGPT and other AI tools to research communities before sending an RFI, and why some EDOs may be practically invisible to those tools.
Drawing on his work with the Dallas Regional Chamber and his review of nine economic development and talent attraction websites, Max identifies two surprisingly common weaknesses: slow websites and poor lead capture. They discuss practical ways to improve discoverability, make community data accessible to AI, use Google Search Console to understand website performance, and turn anonymous visitors into meaningful connections.
Max also shares how he's using AI coding tools to run a lean web development agency and how his childhood obsession with SimCity eventually turned into a career helping real communities grow.
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Ten actionable takeaways for economic developers
Find out what AI says about your community.
Open ChatGPT or another AI search tool in a fresh session. Ask questions a site selector or prospective resident might ask. Does your community appear? Is the information accurate? Identify what is missing and what your organization can do to improve its online information.
Make your community data accessible to AI crawlers.
Ask your web developer whether important information is buried in JavaScript. Max explains that some AI crawlers cannot reliably access JavaScript-rendered content. Publishing important facts in accessible HTML can improve discoverability.
Run a mobile website speed test.
Visit Google PageSpeed Insights, enter your website URL, and examine the mobile results. Look for oversized images, unnecessary JavaScript, and excessive files. Share the recommendations with your web developer.
Give anonymous visitors a reason to identify themselves.
Add opportunities for visitors to connect with your organization through contact forms, valuable downloadable resources, newsletter subscriptions, or interactive tools. Make sure you're offering something worth exchanging contact information for.
Set up Google Search Console.
Use Google Search Console to understand which searches bring visitors to your website and how your content performs. Don't assume you know what prospective businesses are searching for.
Use AI to analyze your search performance.
Connect your Search Console data to an AI assistant, or export the relevant data and ask it to identify trends, missed opportunities, and pages that could perform better. Max uses Claude to uncover insights without manually sifting through reports.
Audit your website before paying for a redesign.
Use the evaluation rubric from Max's 2026 EDO website roundup to assess your existing site. Prioritize discoverability, lead capture, and page speed rather than assuming a new visual design will solve your problems.
Build talent attraction content around relocation decisions.
Prospective residents want information about schools, neighborhoods, parks, jobs, housing costs, and amenities. Consider interactive maps or cost-of-living calculators, similar to the tools Max discusses building for Say Yes to Dallas.
Create useful content that answers specific questions.
Develop evergreen content around the questions businesses and site selectors actually ask. Max emphasizes that good SEO still depends on authoritative, useful content, even as AI changes how people find answers.
Experiment with AI as a practical member of your team.
Identify a recurring technical, research, or content task that takes too much time. Test whether an AI assistant can accelerate it. Max describes using Claude Code to handle development work he previously outsourced, while emphasizing the importance of reviewing and refining the results.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
Marketing Built for Economic Developers | Choose Our City
Choose Our City: Home | LinkedIn
Max Karren | LinkedIn
23 min
October 05238: How Ponca City Turned Housing Into Economic Development with Lori Henderson
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Lori Henderson, executive director of the Ponca City Development Authority, about what economic development looks like in a rural manufacturing community where workforce, housing, childcare, and quality of life are all connected.
Lori explains how Ponca City expanded beyond traditional business retention and expansion to tackle housing and retail, including an incentive program that helped move the community from just a handful of new homes each year to 59 incentivized housing units in two years.
She also shares how the development authority helped revive a closed movie theater, supports entrepreneurs through flexible workspace and small-business services, and builds a long-term workforce pipeline through a high-school internship program involving roughly 100 local companies and 180 students.
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10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
1. Treat housing as economic development infrastructure.
If employers are expanding but workers cannot find places to live, job growth eventually runs into a housing ceiling. Ponca City added housing to the development authority's responsibilities and began actively working with developers to increase supply.
2. Identify the financial gap keeping developers away.
Ponca City's challenge was straightforward: builders could construct a house in Ponca City for roughly the same cost as in a larger nearby market but sell it for less. Their incentive program helps close that profitability gap and makes rural projects more competitive.
3. Build incentives around the developer's actual risk.
Rather than assuming developers simply need to be recruited harder, determine what financial obstacle is preventing the project from working. Ponca City's experience suggests that when builders know a predictable amount of assistance is available, projects that previously did not pencil can become viable.
4. Coordinate incentives across local organizations.
The City of Ponca City handles permitting, vets housing projects, and determines incentives. The development authority then contributes additional funding. That division of labor lets each organization do what it is best positioned to do instead of duplicating effort.
5. Don't ignore existing housing stock.
New construction is not the only way to add housing capacity. Ponca City also incentivizes rehabilitation of older homes that have fallen out of active use, helping return properties to the housing market and utility system.
6. View quality-of-life projects through a workforce lens.
The redevelopment of Ponca City's closed movie theater was not simply a retail project. The development authority viewed entertainment, shopping, schools, housing, and other amenities as part of the community's ability to attract and retain workers.
7. Give economic development organizations room to experiment.
Lori describes the development authority as being able to operate in a gray area and take risks the city itself may not be positioned to take. Some programs will not work as planned, so organizations need enough flexibility to adjust, pivot, and try again.
8. Make business retention and expansion the foundation.
Before expanding into housing and retail, about 95% of Ponca City's economic development work focused on existing businesses. Lori argues that especially in rural communities, much of the most realistic growth comes from helping companies already in the community expand.
9. Start building the workforce pipeline in high school.
Ponca City's internship program places juniors and seniors inside local companies so students can see careers available in their hometown. Roughly 100 companies participate, with about 180 students in internships during the semester discussed in the episode.
10. Show young people careers they may not know exist.
Programs such as Ponca City's Girl Power camp introduced eighth-grade girls to careers including welding. Some participants later entered those industries. Workforce development can begin simply by exposing students to opportunities that otherwise would never appear on their radar.
Special Guest: Lori Henderson.
Links:
Ponca City Economic Development Authority
26 min
September 28237: What a Military Interrogator Can Teach Economic Developers with Dan Kiger
In this unique episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Dan Kiger, founder and principal advisor at VerumLegend, about why a meeting that feels productive can still leave you without the answers you need.
Drawing on more than 20 years in the defense intelligence community, including time as a military interrogator, Dan makes the case for clarity over agreement and curiosity about what matters to the person across the table. They discuss how follow-through builds trust, why a rigid agenda can hide useful information, and what you miss when the CEO does all the talking.
Dan also works through familiar economic development situations: a prospect focused on incentives, an employer struggling to find workers, and an existing business owner who feels overlooked. The conversation offers practical ways to get beyond polite answers and understand what will actually move a project or relationship forward.
*Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! *
Ten actionable takeaways for economic developers
Define what you need to learn before the meeting. Identify the questions you need answered to understand the project and its prospects. Afterward, assess which questions were actually answered and what information you can corroborate.
Learn what matters to the company before presenting your pitch. Ask about its history, employees, suppliers, and reasons for considering your community. That context can reveal concerns that a property checklist or incentive discussion leaves out.
Invite a clear answer about whether things are moving forward. When a prospect keeps taking calls but never commits, ask where the project stands and what is preventing a decision. Make room for disagreement so both sides understand the situation.
Follow through on the small commitments that build trust. Return calls and emails, arrive on time, and do what you said you would do. Remember that a broken promise affects how people see your organization as well as you.
Follow useful detours in the conversation. When someone raises a concern outside your planned questions, ask them to explain it before steering back to the agenda. It may reveal a need or obstacle you did not know to ask about.
Ask what would eliminate your community from consideration. If every shortlist discussion returns to incentives, ask what would cause the company to rule you out and what an acceptable incentive package means to them. Use those answers to clarify the requirements behind the negotiation.
Investigate the hiring process before suggesting a workforce solution. When an employer says it cannot find workers, ask them to walk through exactly how they have tried to recruit. Find out what they have tried, what they have not tried, and where the process is getting stuck.
Turn an overlooked local business’s complaint into a concrete meeting. Set up time to discuss its current problems, concerns, and goals. Identify people in your local network who could help address those needs.
Create opportunities to hear from people beyond the CEO. Ask leadership to allow separate conversations with managers and employees so concerns can surface without the boss in the room. When conducting confidential interviews, share themes without identifying the individuals who raised them.
Corroborate what you hear before treating it as settled. Compare statements with other available information and the person’s pattern of follow-through. Recognize when your assessment rests on evidence and when you are still working from a hunch.
Special Guest: Dan Kiger.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
Dan Kiger | LinkedIn
Dan Kiger — Former Interrogator | Advisory & Keynotes
What AI Will Never Be Able to Do
25 min
September 21236: Stop Treating Entrepreneurship Like a Side Project with Peter McGee
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Peter McGee about why entrepreneurship support is often included in economic development plans but rarely given the same strategic attention as attraction, retention, and infrastructure.
Peter explains how better entrepreneurship programs can help communities connect residents to economic development, support business owners with coaching and practical business fundamentals, and generate meaningful metrics instead of simply counting meetings and referrals.
They also discuss why information alone is not enough, the value of human coaching in an AI-filled world, and how economic development organizations can create locally branded entrepreneurship programs without having to build everything from scratch.
Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!
Special Guest: Peter McGee.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
Peter McGee | LinkedIn
Light Your Beacon
LightYourBeacon - Join Now! - YouTube
28 min
September 07235: Site Selection Doesn't Start With the Site with Thane Hutcheson
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane talks with Thane Hutcheson about what site selection looks like from the company side of the table, beginning with why the process often starts with markets, labor, supply chains, and operating conditions rather than a specific piece of dirt.
Thane explains how companies narrow their choices, why falling in love with a community or site too early can create problems, and what the best economic development teams do differently—from submitting only sites that actually fit to helping visiting companies visualize what long-term success in the community would look like.
They also discuss incentives, the growing role of AI in professional services, and why automating data gathering and analytical work can free economic developers and consultants to spend more time building relationships, exercising judgment, and doing the work that still requires humans.
Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!
10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
Understand the market-level decision before pitching individual sites.
Companies may narrow locations based on labor availability, labor costs, specialized occupations, supply chains, utility costs, and other operating factors before they ever start comparing properties.
Don't lead with dirt when the project isn't ready for dirt.
Learn what the company is actually solving for first. A perfect site in the wrong labor market or supply-chain location may never be competitive.
Submit fewer, better-fitting properties.
If an RFI asks for 20–50 acres with specific characteristics, don't pad the response with properties that obviously fall outside the requirements. Protect the company's time and your own.
Know what surrounds the site, not just what is on it.
Be ready to explain neighboring uses, infrastructure, businesses, access, and the larger environment in which the company would operate.
Understand your community's goals and resources.
Know how a project aligns with local priorities and what financial and non-financial resources—including workforce training and community-college partnerships—you can realistically bring to the table.
Help prospects visualize operating in your community.
During site visits, answer the questions behind the spreadsheet: Where would executives and employees live? Where would their children attend school? Which airport would they use? What would the drive look like?
Bring successful local businesses into the conversation.
Give prospects opportunities to hear from companies already succeeding in your community. Their experience can help establish confidence that the prospect can succeed there too.
Treat a location decision as a long-term relationship.
Thane describes these decisions as potentially 50-year commitments. Think beyond winning the announcement and demonstrate why the company can operate successfully over the long haul.
Use AI to gather and organize information, not replace judgment.
AI can help process datasets, collect information, and accelerate analytical work, but ranking alternatives, evaluating sites, negotiating incentives, and making final decisions still require experience and judgment.
Spend the time AI saves on people.
Use automation to create more room for business retention visits, prospect relationships, community engagement, conferences, conversations, and the other human interactions technology cannot replicate.
Special Guest: Thane Hutcheson.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
The Incentives Negotiator (@IncentivesWork) / X
Thane Hutcheson | LinkedIn
Site Selection & Incentives Negotiation | Five Points Strategic Advisors
The Incentives Negotiator | Substack
29 min
August 31234: Why Rural Communities Need More Than Grant Money with Amy Renner
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Amy Renner, Community Development Senior Program Manager for the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), about what rural communities really need to move economic development projects forward.
Drawing on her experience as the former mayor of a 1,000-person Appalachian community and her current work providing technical assistance across rural America, Amy explains why limited staff capacity can be a bigger obstacle than limited funding, how relationships can unlock resources that communities cannot provide for themselves, and why grants work best when paired with planning and technical expertise.
They explore RCAP’s work through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities program, examples involving outdoor recreation, infrastructure, mixed-use development, transportation, and entrepreneurship, and the importance of community-led planning that produces action instead of another report sitting on a shelf.
The conversation ultimately makes the case that transformative rural development starts by building the relationships and capacity necessary to turn good ideas into projects that are actually ready to fund and implement.
Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!
Special Guest: Amy Renner.
Sponsored By:
Sitehunt: Sitehunt gives economic developers both AI-powered site selection software and a team of experts ready to do the work for you.
Schedule a demo at sitehunt.io/demo.
Links:
RCAP - The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated (RCAP)
RCAP - Facebook
Our Impact - The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
Turning Rural Investment into Real Impact
Programs - The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
News & Stories - The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
Rural Community Assistance Partnership - RCAP - YouTube
Thriving Communities Program | US Department of Transportation
29 min
August 24233: Infrastructure, Trust, and the Future of Economic Development with Will Williams
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show Dane Carlson talks with Will Williams, president and CEO of the Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership, about how economic development has changed over his career: from paper RFIs and long project timelines to massive capital investments, compressed decisions, and new infrastructure demands.
They dig into Western South Carolina’s effort to develop a 1,900-acre industrial park, the growing constraint of electrical capacity, and the heated debate surrounding data centers.
Will argues that communities should evaluate data centers the same way they evaluate other industrial projects: by looking carefully at infrastructure, utilities, location, tax impact, jobs, and community compatibility rather than reacting to misinformation or fear.
The conversation ultimately becomes one about trust, communication, zoning, AI, long-term community building, and the economic developer’s role as the “connective tissue”, or, as Will puts it, “community duct tape”, that holds people and institutions together.
Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps!
10 Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
Start planning electrical capacity earlier. Large projects increasingly require enormous amounts of generation and transmission capacity, making power availability a fundamental site-readiness issue rather than something to address after a prospect appears.
Build sites for the next generation of projects, not the last one. Western South Carolina spent years assembling 1,900 acres because larger contiguous sites with strong interstate and workforce access can take years to create.
Treat data centers like any other industrial prospect. Examine electricity, water, sewer, noise, location, jobs, taxes, and infrastructure requirements instead of automatically treating the industry as either uniquely good or uniquely bad.
Put intensive uses where they belong. Good land-use planning and appropriate buffers can prevent many conflicts before a project is announced. Will specifically points to industrial locations and property-line noise standards as tools communities can use.
Don't mistake the loudest voices for the entire community. Public meetings can amplify a small group of highly motivated opponents, so economic developers and elected officials should seek broader community understanding before assuming opposition is universal.
Communicate before controversy forces you to. Economic development can no longer happen entirely “in the kitchen.” Practitioners need systems for explaining projects publicly while still respecting legitimate company confidentiality.
Use your track record to build trust. When skepticism is high, point to previous projects, their actual outcomes, and the community's experience rather than relying only on promises about a new project.
Recognize that automation changes jobs more often than it simply eliminates them. Will compares today's AI concerns with earlier fears around manufacturing automation, which increased the need for more skilled workers even as processes became more automated.
Think in decades. Will expects the new industrial park to develop over roughly 25 years. Economic developers should be comfortable investing in infrastructure and assets whose full payoff may come long after their own tenure.
Build a network far beyond the usual power players. Will's career advice is to “grow where you're planted” and know as many people as possible—not just utility executives and elected officials. Those relationships become sources of information, introductions, and problem-solving capacity.
Special Guest: Will Williams.
Links:
Will Williams | LinkedIn
Home - WesternSC
30 min

About Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development

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Dane Carlson explores the strategies, ideas, and insights that are driving economic development forward into the future. You'll hear new insights from passionate ED's about their successes and…