172: Pennsylvania's First Economic Strategy in 20 Years with Aaron Pitts
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson speaks with Aaron Pitts, Chief Commercial Officer for Business PA, who shares how Pennsylvania is revitalizing its economic development approach under Governor Shapiro's administration.
Aaron explains the creation of Business PA, a dedicated unit within the Department of Community and Economic Development focused exclusively on building and maintaining business relationships. He details Pennsylvania's strategic advantages as a founding state with major cities, rural areas, and world-class educational institutions like UPenn and Carnegie Mellon, while highlighting their focus on five key sectors: life sciences, manufacturing, energy, AI/tech, and business services.
Listeners learn about Pennsylvania's impressive $500 million investment in site development, streamlined permitting processes that reduced business license waits from eight weeks to two days, and how Pittsburgh has emerged as a global AI leader with companies like Google, Nvidia, and Duolingo.
Aaron also shares insights from his previous experience helping create JobsOhio and explains why leaving corporate America for economic development has been so personally fulfilling.
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Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
Create dedicated units focused solely on business relationships within your economic development organization to ensure businesses receive specialized attention.
Invest significantly in site readiness programs with dedicated funding to create shovel-ready locations that can immediately accommodate business relocations.
Implement a concierge service for permitting to help businesses navigate regulatory processes more efficiently and combat negative perceptions about permitting complexity.
Identify and focus on 4-5 key sectors where your region has competitive advantages rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
Build regional partnerships with clear roles and responsibilities for business retention, expansion and attraction activities to present a unified front to prospective companies.
Bring corporate experience into economic development leadership to better understand and speak the language of business executives.
Develop a strategy that balances care for incumbent businesses while positioning your region to attract cutting-edge industries.
Create a disciplined financial model to evaluate incentive offers that ensures both the business and the region benefit from each deal.
Leverage educational institutions as key partners in workforce development and innovation to create distinct advantages in specific sectors.
Foster an attitudinal shift within economic development organizations from reactive to proactive engagement with businesses to demonstrate that you genuinely care about their success. Special Guest: Aaron Pitts.
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171: Leading Virginia's Largest Economy with Victor Hoskins
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson sits down with Victor Hoskins, President and CEO of Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, who oversees Virginia's largest economy and leads a team that has secured approximately $3 billion in capital investment. Victor shares insights from his unique career spanning both public and private sectors, including his instrumental role in securing Amazon HQ2 during his time at Arlington Economic Development. With candid reflections on his education at MIT, experience in private equity, and passion for creating economic opportunity, Victor reveals his philosophy that has helped companies create over 38,000 jobs in Fairfax County – a place he describes as "where companies come to dent the universe."
Like this show? Please leave us a review here (https://econdevshow.com/rate-this-podcast/) — even one sentence helps! Special Guest: Victor Hoskins.
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25:41
170: The Art of Downtown Transformation in Birmingham with David Fleming
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson speaks with David Fleming, president and CEO of Rev Birmingham, about transforming Birmingham from an industrial city into a thriving service economy centered around healthcare and education. Fleming discusses how his organization fosters downtown vibrancy by preserving historic character, supporting local businesses that "make the city cool," ensuring economic and racial diversity, and collaborating with various municipal authorities to create a downtown that attracts over 30 million annual visitors while maintaining its unique identity.
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Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
Focus on supporting local businesses that give your city a unique character and "make the city cool."
Create incentives that help historic redevelopment while still allowing for new growth.
Work in partnership with various city authorities (parking, transit, housing) to align development goals.
Develop housing incentives that encourage economic diversity, not just luxury developments.
Measure downtown success by evening vibrancy and residential activity, not just daytime business metrics.
Recognize the importance of maintaining racial and economic diversity in downtown development plans.
Position anchor institutions like healthcare and universities as catalysts for urban revitalization.
Balance the needs of various stakeholders: residents, workers, and visitors.
Create development tools that preserve local character while encouraging economic growth.
Focus on making downtown a destination with diverse attractions that can draw millions of visitors annually. Special Guest: David Fleming.
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169: Reimagining Urban Industrial Spaces for Modern Manufacturing with Lindsay Greene
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson speaks with Lindsay Greene, CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, about transforming industrial spaces for modern manufacturing. Greene shares insights on the challenges of changing perceptions about manufacturing careers, the importance of integrating workforce development with economic strategy, and her unusual career path from investment banking to grocery e-commerce before leading a major industrial development. The conversation explores how the Navy Yard creates accessible economic opportunities, the difficulties of attracting grocery stores to underserved areas, and Greene's passion for industrial policy as a driver of economic growth.
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Ten Actionable Takeaways
Consider integrating workforce development and economic development under one organizational structure to reduce friction and align goals.
Modernize perceptions of manufacturing by highlighting how today's industrial jobs offer sustainable careers without requiring advanced degrees.
Create flexible spaces like pop-up opportunities for businesses not ready to commit to permanent locations.
Recognize the unique challenges of attracting grocery stores and develop targeted strategies for food access in underserved areas.
Leverage social media (like Instagram) and accessible communication channels to connect with community members and businesses.
Balance preservation of industrial/waterfront spaces with the need for evolution to meet modern economic needs.
Build strategic partnerships that enhance both economic opportunity and quality of life for residents.
Develop demonstration projects that showcase how traditional industries are transforming for the future.
Consider how your personal and professional background, even if unconventional, brings valuable perspective to economic development work.
Create open channels of communication between your executive team and the public to foster engagement and collaboration. Special Guest: Lindsay Greene.
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168: Reimagining Economic Transformation for Distressed Communities with Rohan Sandhu
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, host Dane Carlson sits down with Rohan Sandhu, co-founder of the Reimagining the Economy Project at Harvard Kennedy School, to examine the convergence of industrial policy, market crafting, and place-based economic development strategies. Drawing on his 15 years of experience at the intersection of research and practice, Sandhu discusses how traditional economic development approaches often fail distressed communities due to uncoordinated policies and limited local capacity. They explore how forward-looking economic transformation requires moving beyond reactive, transactional approaches to development and better aligning workforce systems with economic growth initiatives. Sandhu's insights from his work on projects like "Bottom-Up Bidenomics" and "The US Place-Based Policy Supply Chain" offer practical guidance for practitioners seeking to build more resilient local economies.
Like this show? Please leave us a review here (https://econdevshow.com/rate-this-podcast/) — even one sentence helps!
Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
Shift from reactive, crisis-driven economic development to forward-looking strategies with a clear vision for transformation.
Focus on building local institutional capacity as a foundation for implementing any economic development initiative.
Identify and address the coordination gaps between overlapping economic development policies at federal, state, and local levels.
Recognize the limitations of matching fund requirements that often exclude the most distressed communities from accessing resources.
Develop funding models for local intermediary organizations that support capacity-building, not just project implementation.
Integrate workforce development explicitly into economic growth strategies rather than treating them as separate domains.
Use data visualization tools like economyinplace.com to better understand local labor markets and policy flows in your region.
Examine how industrial policy principles can be applied practically to support small and medium enterprises in your community.
Identify opportunities for "productive upgrading" of service sectors that absorb local labor.
Design economic development strategies that directly target persistent economic distress rather than focusing primarily on already-advantaged areas. Special Guest: Rohan Sandhu.
About Econ Dev Show Podcast - Economic Development
We explore 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 struggles, and you'll learn from attraction and retention experts about how to apply actionable strategies inside your EDO. We'll help take your organization, your community, and your career to the next level.
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