Shared Kitchens and Food Incubators
It was a foodie heaven. A large commercial kitchen full of chefs bottling sauces and packaging meals. Across the way was a row of small restaurant spaces with local offerings ranging from vegetarian to Asian fusion to Mexican. People were eating lunch at shared tables or grabbing a cup of coffee at the adjacent coffee […]
Read More2014 Best Performing Cities
The Milken Institute just released their report on the Best Performing Cities of 2014. Their report focused on outputs such as jobs, wages, salaries, and technology rather than factors such as quality of life or cost of living. Columbia was named #11 out of 179 small cities. Not a bad ranking by any stretch of […]
Read MoreWal-Mart v. Downtown
An interesting piece appeared in Better! Cities & Towns today, designed to get everyone thinking about how highly dense, mixed use developments common to downtowns help support the tax base: An analysis by Joseph Minicozzi of Urban3 in Asheville, North Carolina, shows that on a per-acre basis, dense, mixed-use development far outstrips the value of […]
Read MoreEnhanced Enterprise Zone FAQ
The Columbia City Council will soon be reviewing a new program designed to bring jobs into Columbia called the Enhanced Enterprise Zone program. Below are some commonly asked questions regarding the program. Work on this program is being done by the city’s economic development office, or REDI, and questions can also be directed to their offices at [email protected] […]
Read MoreTalent, Place and Opportunity
Did you know that 58% of a city’s success is based on the percentage of the population with a college degree? According to CEOs for Cities, “each additional percentage point improvement in aggregate adult four-year college attainment is associated with a $763 increase in annual per capita income.” With three colleges located in our downtown, Columbia is […]
Read MoreEmployee Satisfaction
PRSA’s quarterly magazine recently cited an alarming statistic: 49 % of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs. Equally gloomy is the fact that 64% of workers under 25 are unhappy. This is likely the result of several factors. A soft economy makes it tough to move on to a more suitable job and people are seeing […]
Read MoreTop Ten Jobs of the Next Decade
NPR had a story this morning on where this decade’s jobs will come from. The disheartening news was that 6 out of the top seven fastest-growing jobs are low-skill, low-wage jobs. The top ten: 1. Registered nurses2. Home health aids3. Customer service representatives4. Food preparation and serving workers5. Personal and home care aides6. Retail salespersons7. Office […]
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