Nebraska’s Employment Creates Economic Certainty

By David Hodes
Nebraska, it seems, has a built-in resistance to failure.
Unemployment has been consistently low throughout the economic recession — steadily running around 4.3 percent — and the state has added 7,700 net new jobs in the last 12- month period, says Rod Moseman, vice president of…

Maryland Invests in Its Entrepreneurs

By Sharon H. Fitzgerald
“Everybody seems to win,” says Dominick Murray, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Murray is describing InvestMaryland, a new initiative that’s putting cash into the pockets of startup and early-stage companies.
Gov. Martin O’Malley signed InvestMaryland into law in…

Iowa’s Growth Balanced by a Steady Economic Climate

By David Hodes

Iowa has consistently been a strong state for economic development during the recession and recovery. While last year’s drought did hurt local economies, the drive for a faster growing state is organized to where actions start at the top and filter down through the state’s…

Oregon: Manufacturing and Economy Thriving

By Sharon H. Fitzgerald
After serving as Oregon’s governor for two terms in the 1990s, John Kitzhaber ran for governor again in 2010 and won. Since he took office in 2011, Oregon’s unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in three years, the state passed a balanced…

Vermont Intensifies STEM Education Efforts

By Rachel Duran
A piece of Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin’s vision for the state’s economy consists of creating jobs in the high-tech cluster, and ensuring the workforce is ready to fill those positions. A recent initiative to support these efforts is an incentive that is awarded directly…