Success Stories

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 maritime history of the western U.S. was written at San Francisco’s Pier 70. From the California Gold Rush to Y2K, the most important ships to ply the Pacific were laid down at Pier 70’s shipyards, one of the best-preserved 19th century industrial complexes west of the Mississippi.

When the pandemic first began, Americans had a renewed appreciation for the trucking industry, bringing supplies and groceries to shelves across the country. Two years later, the need for qualified, commercial truck drivers has only increased, as America faces global supply chain issues. With support from the Economic Development Administration, one grantee is helping to fill that void.

In 2017, Puerto Rico was devastated by back-to-back storms that resulted in Category 5-level destruction. More than 3,000 people lost their lives in Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the entire population was left without power. Total economic losses were estimated at $20 million.

Nestled in the densely forested Okanogan highlands of Eastern Washington, Deer Park’s fortunes were built on logging. But when the town’s last sawmill shut its doors, the community lost its long-time base industry and suddenly found itself with a need to economically “branch out.” Thanks to local ingenuity — backed by a $4.7 million grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) — this city of 3,600 people is celebrating an economic renaissance driving the creation of scores of new jobs and generating millions of dollars in private investment.

A project in New Mexico is aiming to fill a gap in support for Native American artisans and entrepreneurs. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, showcases the accomplishments and history of the Pueblo people of New Mexico. It includes a museum highlighting cultural arts, educational opportunities, and space for daily artisans and dances.

Fishing has been the economic lifeblood of the Yup’ik people of western Alaska since time immemorial. After a catastrophic fire ripped through the Kwik'pak Fisheries salmon roe processing plant in Emmonak in March 2016, six Alaskan Native Villages along the Lower Yukon River found their economies in sudden peril. Kwik'pak Fisheries, an enterprise of the Native-owned Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association, operates the only salmon processing plant in this section of Alaska’s vast, Unorganized Borough.

In the middle of a sea of cornfields in rural Iowa lies a spot that instantly sparks nostalgia in baseball fans everywhere -- the site of a 1989 hit movie Field of Dreams which coined the phrase “If you build it, he will come.”

Only about 5,500 people live in Zeeland, Michigan, but that number can triple during the workday as employees flock to several manufacturing businesses in the area.

Running a small business can be challenging. Owners often wear multiple hats, performing customer service and human resources, conducting bookkeeping, and providing maintenance and sanitation.