Thanks to Uncle Sam, a 90-year-old in the hills of West Virginia soon will be able to use a new broadband connection to apply for a new job cleaning up one of the government's decaying nuclear weapons production sites. This person will be able to use a special one-time $250 cash payment from Social Security to purchase a ticket on a new high-speed rail link, which will magically transport the elderly applic ...

We knew it was a bad sign when Robert Rubin was standing behind Barack Obama when Obama introduced his team of economic wise men a few days after the presidential election. Rubin, the champion of deregulation who served as Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton, spent the past few years as the eminence grise of Citigroup. Under his stewardship, what was once the largest banking conglomerate gorged itself on ...

A few weeks ago, they packed up the famous monuments at old Yankee Stadium, loaded them into a large truck, and moved them to the new Yankee Stadium across the street. We're not sure why it was necessary to use a truck to carry the monuments a few yards to their new resting place in the outfield of the new $1-billion ballpark. Perhaps the Steinbrenner dynasty was concerned that some evildoers might attempt ...

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm announced on Tuesday Michigan’s aggressive film production attraction efforts will create 5,993 new jobs in Michigan, including 4,066 new film, animation and programming jobs. Three companies, Wonderstruck Studios, Motown Motion Pictures and Stardock Systems, plan to invest more than $156 million in Detroit, Pontiac and Plymouth locations. “We are working hard to build a divers ...

Even under difficult economic conditions, Munich Airport remains a reliable engine for growth and employment. The three biggest companies at the airport - the Lufthansa Group, the Munich Airport operating company and its subsidiaries (FMG), and the airport security company (SGM) - alone have increased their total workforce by 2,800 to more than 18,300 since the summer of 2006. At the FMG annual press confer ...

A whistleblower tells Congress that the Securities and Exchange Commission ignored his warnings about Bernie Madoff for nine years. ...

The Greensboro Economic Development Alliance just announced a significant expansion by ConvaTec, a global medical device manufacturer and long-time Greensboro employer. The company will expand its ostomy wafer line and attract a new ostomy pouch operation to its 211 American Avenue plant. ConvaTec plans to hire 30 machine operators and mechanics at an average wage of more than $44,000 per year. The company ...

The California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA) has praised the State Treasurer’s office for increasing the funding allocation  from approximately $120 million to $150 million for the 2009 Industrial Development Bond (IDB) program. This annual IDB issuing volume, which funds projects for California manufacturers, is established by the State Treasurer and represents a $30-million, or a 25%, increase, ...

The tawdry saga of Gov. Rod Blagojevich concluded on schedule this week, when the Illinois State Senate unanimously ousted the helmet-haired governor after a brief trial in which Blagojevich was the most damning witness against himself, courtesy of wiretaps provided by a federal prosecutor. U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's impulsive decision two months ago to publicly reveal Hot Rod's efforts to peddle Ba ...

After yesterday's employment massacre--more than 70,000 job cuts announced across various U.S. industries--the role of economic development and the importance of economic developers, have reached new heights. Before slumping my shoulders in response to the crush of job losses, I was emboldened by news out of North Carolina. EDGE4, a five-year economic development program designed to benefit Raleigh, Wake Co ...