Acknowledgements Heartland Forward thanks the following organizations, without whom this project could not have been completed: Executive Summary Entrepreneurship is a powerful economic development strategy for communities and regions. But the extent to which entrepreneurs are able to succeed, relies largely on providing individuals with the right tools and environment to pursue their businesses. This… Continue reading Black Business Opportunity Strategy: The Journey of Black Business Owners in Memphis
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The Memphis Black Business Owner Interactive Data Tool
In conjunction with our release of the report Black Business Opportunity Strategy: The Journey of Black Business Owners in Memphis, we are also releasing a set of interactive visualizations that allow users to view the characteristics of Black- and white-owned businesses in the Memphis metropolitan area, other metropolitan areas with available data, and the United… Continue reading The Memphis Black Business Owner Interactive Data Tool
Black Business Owners in Memphis: A Data Story
Introduction Heartland Forward is assisting Memphis-area policymakers and entrepreneur support organizations in creating a more equitable entrepreneurship ecosystem for Black business owners. Achieving equity is key to improving quality of life in the Black community, as entrepreneurship can be a gateway to creating generational wealth for families. It is also key to unlocking the potential… Continue reading Black Business Owners in Memphis: A Data Story
Child Care Policy Efficiency: What States Can Do To Promote Affordable, Accessible, High-Quality Child Care
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following people who graciously spent time answering our questions and sharing their expertise to help inform our research: Jerry AkersEntrepreneur who offers child care benefits to employees Suzanne SchreiberOklahoma State Legislator Jane AlexanderFormer center director Dan TeefeyExecutive Director of Tracy Family Foundation Cindy DeckerExecutive Director of Tulsa Educare… Continue reading Child Care Policy Efficiency: What States Can Do To Promote Affordable, Accessible, High-Quality Child Care
Place-based Economic Development: Creating growth in the heartland
Three relatively new federal acts constitute nearly $2 trillion of investments aimed to bolster U.S. competitiveness by stimulating innovation, tech commercialization and domestic manufacturing, while stabilizing and enhancing domestic supply chains1. Such a place-based, capacity-building approach would seem to dovetail nicely with the heartland’s traditional strengths and work ethic. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act… Continue reading Place-based Economic Development: Creating growth in the heartland
Regional Collaboration Drives Economic Development: Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas’ FLAME Proposal
Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas are embarking upon a novel cross-state, super-regional economic development collaboration to create greater density of assets in order to build a logistics and advanced mobility cluster. In the past, jurisdictional geography boundaries have restricted attempts and success in forming broader asset pools to fill gaps in competency and compete against larger… Continue reading Regional Collaboration Drives Economic Development: Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas’ FLAME Proposal
Just Published: Health Care Access in the Heartland
Read Heartland Forward’s most recent research report, Health Care Access in the Heartland: How to improve services in rural America, offers a qualitative and quantitative look at the causes, effects and possible policy solutions to improve health services and workforce opportunities for rural communities. Visit the Rural Health Care Accessibility Atlas Download our policy roadmap
From Research To Renewal, Part 2: States Realizing The Potential Of Research Institutions
Technology transfers – or sharing the results of research that leads to innovation – are an essential fuel for the economic growth of state economies. A better understanding the technology transfer activities in each state helps governors, state agencies and state legislatures – the ultimate guardians of economic development – to make informed decisions about… Continue reading From Research To Renewal, Part 2: States Realizing The Potential Of Research Institutions
The Labor Crisis and the Future of the Heartland
While topics like “The Great Resignation” and “the labor shortage” have gained traction in popular discourse, much of these discussions overly simplify trends that have been brewing for decades. Indeed, some states like South Dakota, Nebraska, Vermont, Kansas and Indiana¹ face a shortage of workers, and it is true that in the aggregate, some types… Continue reading The Labor Crisis and the Future of the Heartland
Economic Savings in America: A Story of Public-Private Partnership in Rapid COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Deployment
The rapid development and deployment of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic lessened the impact of the virus on the economy, generating an estimated economic savings in the U.S. of $438 billion in terms of 2021 real GDP gain, or 2.3% of 2021 real GDP. These savings, and the development of the vaccine itself, are possible because of the United States’ unique public-private partnership between government agencies, academia and the biopharmaceutical industry that supports innovations in disease therapy.