Building Back Better: A How-To Guide

Thanks to COVID 19, it’s been a tough year and a half for most of us.  That is certainly true for economic developers who quickly pivoted to helping pandemic-businesses and workers, and who are now starting to speculate on how their local economies can effectively recovered from the pandemic’s multiple economic shocks.  The good news in this scenario is that public agencies and private investors have stepped up, and most communities will be able to tap into new (and expanded) resources to “build back better.”   This process will also be improved via effective planning and new investments as suggested in an excellent new guide to economic recovery from the Upjohn Institute. “A Moment of Opportunity:  Strategies for Inclusive Economic Growth” (by Michelle Miller-Adams, Timothy Bartik and Brad Herschbein) offers something of road map for post-pandemic economic recovery.  It offers a series of recommendations for jump-starting local economies and ensuring that any recovery raises all boats.   It includes suggestions related to workforce training, technical assistance to business, and long neglected issues such as child care availability and housing affordability.  It’s well-worth reviewing these ideas and using them to inform your own local and regional economic recovery efforts.