Success Stories

In 1965, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) was established and the sport of pickleball invented. Created by former U.S. Representative Joel Pritchard (WA-02) at his Bainbridge Island, Washington cabin, pickleball has since been named the state sport of Washington. Recently, it has seen a surge in popularity, becoming the fastest-growing athletic pastime in the United States. Now, these two children of 1965 — EDA and pickleball — are being reunited through a Port Angeles, Washington, nonprofit.

Fire protection in California’s rural and heavily forested Humboldt County is provided by a patchwork of more than three dozen different agencies, many of whom rely entirely on volunteer firefighters.

BAR U EAT started, quite literally, in a home kitchen. Unsatisfied with the granola and protein bar options in local stores in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Sam Nelson decided to make his own.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 220,000 Americans moved to Florida in 2021, making it the nation’s top destination for domestic migration. With support from the Economic Development Administration, a Florida-based company is helping many Americans move to the Sunshine State.

Over the last decade, Spokane, Washington has experienced a boom in growth. Much of the Lilac City’s recent economic success can be organically attributed to an innovative business landscape driven by a local sense of creativity and industry — the city’s motto, in fact, is “Creative by Nature.” But a large portion of that success is also creditable to the work done by a burgeoning, local economic development ecosystem. A major component of that ecosystem is Washington State University’s (WSU) Center for Innovation.

About 10 years ago, the city of Savanna, Illinois, faced two economic development hurdles.

The first was a three-quarter-mile, pot-holed-filled street, called Wacker Road, that rumbled as trucks passed a school and homes to get to industrial businesses. The second was a dilapidated wastewater treatment plant that was built so close to the Mississippi River that it flooded frequently and caused back-ups across the city.

The landscape and opportunities for entrepreneurs in Wyoming are growing. IMPACT 307, a business incubator program at the University of Wyoming, is now expanding statewide.