Economic development is a campaign now, and the states and regions competing for investment know it. What we’re watching:
Utah’s 47G was spun out of the Utah Aerospace and Defense Association two years ago as a modern campaign to make the state the nation’s premier ecosystem for aerospace and defense competition.
Governor Spencer Cox is keynoting the group’s Zero Gravity Summit in November.
🍿 Check out 47G’s Top Gun-caliber hype video for Utah.
Pittsburgh felt like Davos this summer when Sen. Dave McCormick convened President Trump, five White House cabinet members, Gov. Josh Shapiro and more than 60 CEOs and investors to announce $92 billion in AI investments in Pennsylvania.
This week, the AI Horizons Summit reunites McCormick, Shapiro, and scores of business leaders to cement Southwestern Pennsylvania as the heart of the AI economy.
The event is driven by the AI Strike Team – a dynamic, campaign-style economic development force in the region led by Joanna Doven, who served as press secretary to former Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
Standard & Works is on-the-ground at the AI Horizons Summit.
Illinois recently rebranded its economic development agency – meet the Illinois Economic Development Corporation, formerly Intersect Illinois. The more simplistic brand is Illinois' reaction to an increasingly crowded stakeholder landscape.
With multiple groups advocating and carving out niches – the move was partially intended to clarify that the EDC is the state’s primary hub for economic development.
The EDC’s debut in late August came on the heels of Gov. JB Pritzker hosting a two-day Global Quantum Forum – making Quantum central to the governor’s agenda is another way the state is standing out.
States and cities are increasingly favoring economic development leaders with serious political acumen.
In California, veteran political strategist Dee Dee Myers has led GO-Biz, the state’s economic development office, in a cabinet-level role since 2020.
In Cleveland, Team NEO named former state senator and U.S. Senate candidate Matt Dolan as its new CEO earlier this year.
S&W’S TAKE
The shift toward a campaign-style mindset means faster decision-making, more aggressive pitches, and a whole new playbook for attracting investment.
This playbook goes far beyond tax breaks – today’s landscape demands speed, coalition building, and narrative.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
With the rise of supercharged economic development campaigns, what does this mean for legacy institutions and organizations that have been plugging away for decades at business attraction for decades? Will they evolve or get pushed aside?
Many business leaders we’ve spoken with say this is a needed sea change in a parochial, sleepy industry that’s waking up to the stakes and demands of modern competition.
