Success Stories

The place-based investment is core to EDA’s mission, with our team working closely with local community leaders to ensure EDA’s grants support targeted economic development based on each community’s unique needs. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, which allows EDA’s grants to be flexible, dynamic, and meet the moment that’s called for in each community. In Lubbock, Texas, that has translated into multiple EDA investments, as leaders turn a painful Air Force Base closure into economic opportunity for the region.

“To grow is to prosper.” For the residents of Floyd County, Virginia, it’s more than just a motto emblazoned on the county seal. It’s a way of life, embedded in both the history and the culture of this rural community nestled among the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

In September 2022, President Joe Biden announced the 21 winners of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC), a key component of his American Rescue Plan. The competition was designed to boost economic recovery from the pandemic and rebuild American communities, including those grappling with decades of disinvestment.

In 2018, Brookings reported: “A central development problem is that high-quality, timely, accessible data are absent in most poor countries, where development needs are greatest. In a world of unequal distributions of income and wealth across space, age and class, gender and ethnic pay gaps, and environmental risks, data that provide only national averages conceal more than they reveal.”

Lack of access to broadband is a problem for millions across the country, including residents in the state of Missouri. According to surveys from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the state ranks near the bottom for access to high-speed internet. Some local business owners had to find creative workarounds including completing tasks and then traveling into town to upload their completed work. 

“I was just a humble chocolate maker with a dream.” Daniel Herskovic, a gourmet chef who worked at top restaurants in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, started his luxury chocolate company, Mayana Chocolate, in his apartment and eventually moved to a small table in the corner of a local cheesecake bakery on Chicago’s North Side.

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast, bringing heavy rains and 150 mph winds. It resulted in catastrophic loss and significantly impacted communities throughout the state. The storm left more than 2.6 million residents without power. Ian’s impact on the state’s economy was no less intense, with insurance losses topping $12.6 billion.

Puerto Rico is known as the Island of Enchantment, a favorite tourist destination revered for its white sandy beaches and cool tropical breezes. Each year, the island welcomes more than 4 million visitors eager to enjoy the sun and surf. Unfortunately, there are more and more unwelcome natural visitors, as climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of damaging storms.

Throughout much of the 20th century, Shelby, North Carolina, about an hour west of Charlotte, was a powerhouse of textile manufacturing. It was home to several mills, which produced yarn and thread for the clothing industry. It also had considerable transportation assets, making these products readily available throughout the United States. By the dawn of the 21st century, however, all of that would change.

North Carolina is no stranger to natural disasters. In recent years, the Tar Heel State has hosted some of the most destructive hurricanes in American history, including Dorian (2019), Florence (2018) and Matthew (2016). Combined, these storms have accounted for more than $24 billion in damages to homes and businesses and the loss of more than forty lives throughout the state.