We really like this piece in Bloomberg Businessweek
Some excerpts to consider:
“Housing prices needn’t be high just because an area is hemmed in by water or mountains”
“Constraints on housing prevent people from joining, and contributing to, clusters of innovation”
“Arguably,” Harvard economist Edward Glaeser wrote in a Brookings Institution paper last year, “land use controls have a more widespread impact on the lives of ordinary Americans than any other regulation.”
SVED’s Annual Economic Profiles for:
and the cities of:
are posted for download and use on the Economic Profiles page of its website.
SVED GDP estimate of $2.0 Billion in 2017 garnered front page coverage in the Idaho Mt. Express.
Read the full ARTICLE including sales, business, wage and real estate stats.
2017 saw growth in sales with some cities up and some slightly down.
Blaine County also saw increases in the number of jobs, businesses, wages and income from self-employment.
SVED estimates the Blaine County GDP to be $2.0 Billion in 2017, up from our last estimate of $1.8 Billion in 2014.
While economic indicators are up, the Blaine County population is flat with 0.3 growth per year over the last six years.
Introduction to the Sun Valley Culinary Institute version 3.0.
Many of the concepts, issues and practices in this discussion from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis can apply to us here in Blaine County. Here are few excerpts:
“As with many thriving clusters that began with a start-up company or two, part of the magic is a combination of happenstance and intentional efforts by the original founders to work on a product in a location they wanted to live in.”
“We will start with the issues and barriers to growth. At the top of everybody’s list was housing; not just affordability, but also availability as inventory and vacancies are low. Housing is part of these businesses’ recruitment efforts. They have had employees accept jobs and then leave because they were unable to find suitable housing. Similarly, finding work for spouses and partners can be more challenging in a smaller region than in a large metro.”
“From our office’s vantage point, and most of advisors as well, it is less about the specific industry and more about the foundation upon which the success was built. Having a good workforce, infrastructure, planning, and taxing system in place, in addition to being able to provide information and contacts for firms looking for assistance is critical. These pieces of the foundation are the natural fit for the role of the public sector. It is really hard to pick winners and losers, but providing the platform from which any type of business can succeed is the goal.”
Do read the whole thing. https://oregoneconomicanalysis.com/2018/08/21/gorge-discussions-pt-2-tech/
A more balanced economy could help reduce the gap.
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/personal-finance/article215335440.html
Article by Paul Kenny in the Idaho Business Review
The US can’t keep up with demand for health aides, nurses and doctors.
But a persistent shortage of skilled workers — from nurses to physicians to lab technicians — will mean hundreds of thousands of positions will remain unfilled…
“In local economies, the retail industry could present one of the largest pools of labor for health care systems to effectively retain workers for jobs such as home health aides,” he said.
The Supreme Court took a step toward leveling the playing field between bricks and mortar and online retailers. This is welcome news for our local business community.
Check out the full story.
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