The Future of Economic Prosperity: How We Help Communities of All Sizes

Speaker: Nathan Ohle, President & CEO of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC)

Location: L-166, HKS

Refreshments will be provided.

About: For far too long, we have not learned the economic development lessons of the past, causing economically distressed places of all sizes to fall further behind. As the economic development profession evolves, new approaches to building capacity and pairing them a variety of asset based, and collaborative approaches are producing promising results. In a moment of historic federal investments through the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS & Science Act, the Economic Recovery Corps is building the next generation of economic development leaders and addressing the challenges and opportunities in distressed places head on.

How is this approach different and novel, and why is it an important complement to the historic funding in this moment and beyond? Economic development finds itself at the intersection of workforce, housing, infrastructure, and childcare issues like never before, and practitioners are stepping in and stepping up in new ways to address the holistic needs of their communities and regions. Come learn how the field is changing and why these evolving approaches are important to the future of communities of all sizes.