Success Stories

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.

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.

On February 20, 2020, Washington state reported the first COVID-19 death in the United States. Within a month, the state issued one of the nation’s first stay-at-home orders, a directive that was initially to last for just two weeks. OneRedmond CEO Kristina Hudson, however, knew that preparation was the best precaution.

Food Hubs play an important role in ensuring the success of food ecosystems across the country. In Farmington, New Mexico, the Harvest Food Hub & Kitchen at San Juan College provides a crucial link between consumers and the Northwest New Mexico farmers who grow their food.

For more than 200 years, the 11th Street Bridge has connected Washington, D.C. with the historic neighborhood of Anacostia. There have been several redevelopment projects through the years, creating new spans for travel across the Anacostia River. Today, remnants of those earlier spans still stand as a reminder of the bridge’s long and storied history.

California has experienced its share of wildfires. Nothing, however, could prepare the Golden State for the devastation of the 2018 Camp Fire. The historic and unprecedented conflagration laid waste to a large section of mountainous and semi-rural Butte County, going down as the single most devastating fire disaster in state history.

With a population of just 11,000, the coastal community of Newport, Oregon has managed to establish itself as home to one of the richest seafaring traditions on the West Coast. It’s a destination spot for visitors from throughout the United States who come to see the town’s working waterfronts and maritime-based attractions, such as the Oregon Coast History Museum, historic Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, and notable restaurants and fish markets. Newport’s Oregon Coast Community College offers the nation’s only degree program in aquarium science. The city also serves as Pacific Fleet headquarters for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, hosting Maritime Operations Center – Pacific and the survey vessels NOAAS Bell M. Shimada and NOOAS Rainier; since 2005, Newport has been designated an official Coast Guard City.

Helen Hayes once said that age is unimportant unless you’re a cheese. For the city of Willows, California, that adage also applies to cheese factories. In the mid-2010s, the town’s 100-year-old, family-owned cheese producer was on the cusp of relocating its operations to a new facility in a different area, a move necessitated by its increasingly antiquated factory. The potential loss of this major employer created economic uncertainty in the region.

Towanda is a small community in northern Pennsylvania, just a short drive from New York. It was founded in 1786 along the Susquehanna River, and by the 1800s, it was a thriving port for merchants. It was incorporated as a township in 1826 and is now home to more than 3,000 residents.

The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, isn’t your traditional museum. Leaders pride themselves in using unique, innovative methods to share history with visitors.