Economic Development Week celebrates the people and partnerships shaping stronger, more resilient communities.
Across the country, local leaders are facing big challenges head-on and proving what’s possible — from strengthening workforce pipelines to expanding pathways to economic mobility. In Allentown, Riverside, St. Louis, and Tampa, cities are designing and implementing solutions that move people into good jobs, connect employers to talent, and remove barriers to opportunity. Leaders on the ground in communities know that driving economic mobility means integrating strategies across areas like economic development, housing, workforce, and transit and infrastructure, rather than operating in silos. This is what economic development looks like when cities lead.
To every mayor, practitioner, and community partner working to expand opportunity for your residents: Thank you! Accelerator for America is proud to support you as we build the next generation of local economic mobility.
We also want to wish a special congratulations to our friends at the International Economic Development Council as they celebrate 100 years of impact this week!
In advance of Infrastructure Week, May 18-22, AFA hosted three Economic Opportunity Accelerators sessions exploring how communities can strengthen their infrastructure workforce pipelines, advance transformative transportation investments locally, and prepare for major shifts in federal infrastructure policy.
In February, the series dove into workforce development for infrastructure trades. Panelists emphasized that aligning training programs with real project demand requires intentional, upfront coordination between project owners, labor unions, and training providers. Communities like Charlotte and Syracuse are modeling this alignment through cross‑department collaboration and early partnership with labor.
Speakers also underscored that wrap-around supports — from transportation and childcare to driver’s license reinstatement — are often the deciding factor in whether participants complete training and secure placement. “Our most successful programs are those where there’s a coordination process from start to end,” noted panelist Marina Zhavoronkova, Executive Director of TradesFutures.
The March session examined local transportation ballot measures as a tool for expanding economic opportunity. Both cities also stressed that transportation access is fundamentally an economic mobility issue, not just an infrastructure one. Leaders from Nashville and Charlotte shared how they built broad coalitions, reframed their messages around foundational needs like sidewalks, signals, and safety, and prepared their agencies for implementation long before Election Day.
The session highlighted how Nashville shifted from a failed 2018 referendum to a 2024 victory. “People could actually envision themselves seeing a benefit from the program and really being able to answer those questions of what’s happening in my district, what’s happening in my neighborhood, or what’s happening in the neighborhood of the people that I love and spend a lot of time with. That really changed the conversation so that people felt they were getting something back for their investment,” said panelist Sabrina Sussman, Chief Program Officer of Nashville’s Choose How You Move.
In April, the conversation zoomed out to the federal level, helping local leaders understand what’s at stake in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. The session explained how the structure of the next bill, not just its size, will determine whether cities, counties, and transit agencies retain direct access to federal dollars, and Brittney Kohler, Legislative Director for Transportation and Infrastructure at the National League of Cities, brought the congressional picture into focus and touched on what local governments should be watching and doing as the reauthorization process picks up.
Kohler highlighted the importance of protecting programs like Safe Streets and Roads for All and the Bridge Investment Program. “If they don’t hear from you all about how much you love a program, sometimes they can take cuts in these negotiations. Now is the time to speak up,” she said.
AFA Advisory Council mayors are making headlines nationally and in their communities. Below are some selected headlines.
Watch Kansas City Mayor on World Cup, US Politics (Bloomberg)
Mayor Quinton Lucas spoke to Bloomberg about serving as a host city for the World Cup and the state of national politics as he sees it.
Gallego touts Phoenix as quantum computing hub in State of the City speech (Axios)
Mayor Kate Gallego used her State of the City address to announce Phoenix’s new Phoenix Quantum Strategy, which aims to position the city as the country’s quantum computing hub. Phoenix has already positioned itself as a leading city for semiconductors, attracting a $250 billion investment from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money, It’s More Affordable Housing (New York Times)
Highlighting how local governments are working to create permanently affordable housing, the New York Times spoke to Mayor Tim Kelly about the creation of Invest Chattanooga. “The cavalry isn’t coming, so we have to figure this out on our own,” Kelly said.
Home Improvement: OKC has transformed over 30 years, but now is when “the world really notices us” (The Oklahoman)
Mayor David Holt was highlighted in a column by The Oklahoman sports columnist Jenni Carlson talking about how the world is waking up to the success and growth Oklahoma City has seen over the last three decades. OKC has broken ground on “unquestionably one of the 10 greatest arenas on planet Earth,” Holt said. The city will also host three Olympic events in 2028.
O’Connell announces ‘largest ever local investment’ in housing (Nashville Business Journal)
Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced plans for a 40% increase in funding for housing and a new revolving loan program that will work to set up a durable affordable housing bond during his State of the City address.
