The Austin Economic Development Corporation has rebranded as Rally Austin, in an attempt to better communicate its goals of helping to create and preserve affordable housing and cultural spaces throughout the city. The change, which was announced Wednesday, comes as the real estate nonprofit organization is poised to help facilitate some of the most important […]
economic development
This is short for fiscal growth experienced by the City of Austin or businesses in and around the region.
Posted inAustin
Austin Justice Coalition launches economic justice campaign
This week, the Austin Justice Coalition announced the launch of the Justice Now: Economic Justice Campaign. The nonprofit said the initiative aims to address systemic economic inequalities in the Austin area. The Justice Now campaign will leverage public awareness campaigns, grassroots organizing, partnerships with local businesses and policy advocacy to “create lasting change for marginalized […]
Posted inAustin
EDC waiting on TIRZ formation while moving ahead with cultural trust funding proposals
The city’s economic development corporation is moving ahead with evaluating proposals from creative groups vying for some of the $16.9 million in cultural trust funds for creative spaces, but its role in helping manage development south of Lady Bird Lake is in limbo while the real estate market moves forward. Staff from the EDC, a […]
Posted inLocal Government
Panelists look at impacts, opportunities brought by Tesla and others
With Austin an increasingly popular relocation choice for major companies and public institutions, the area’s infrastructure, employment dynamics and education systems are in for significant impacts in the coming years. That was the messages panelists had for local real estate and development leaders on Wednesday, when Urban Land Institute Austin focused its monthly breakfast on […]
Posted inAustin
With Council approval, new EDC moves forward
City Council has approved the interlocal agreement that will allow the newly created Austin Economic Development Corporation to begin conducting its business, which will be focused around real estate projects addressing affordability and gentrification concerns. The unanimous vote last week came after years of planning and strategizing to decide how the city could create and […]
Posted inCity Hall
EDC creators explain priorities for creative space, affordable housing
Some of the main architects of the city’s fledgling Economic Development Corporation assured members of the local real estate and development community Wednesday that the entity was not created to interfere with or compete for private sector business deals. That was one of the messages at the monthly virtual breakfast meeting organized by the Urban […]
Posted inCity Council
Council requests emergency economic development corporation
As part of the Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors program, City Council is seeking to expedite formation of the Austin Economic Development Corporation, an entity that may be able to help refine and administer the long-term sustainability component of SAVES. The fully composed corporation will include a board of directors with 20 appointees that are […]
Posted inCity Council
Council eyes September for EDC creation, with S. Congress and music venues as priorities
City Council is expected to vote next month to approve the legal documents that would create an economic development corporation, or EDC, that many members see as a remedy for threatened arts spaces, housing for the homeless and other real estate-related transactions. At Tuesday’s work session city staffers said they expect to present the incorporation […]
Posted inAustin
Austin may get an economic development corp.
City Council appears to be moving cautiously toward creation of a local economic development corporation that would be totally separate from the city but governed by a Council-appointed board of directors. People unfamiliar with such entities may naturally wonder why the city would need such a corporation. Council heard a presentation about such corporations at […]
Posted inAustin
Workforce startups targeting gaps between workers, training programs
Last fall, Adam Chasen started looking at the many difficulties and inefficiencies Austin’s workplace training ecosystem has with linking up with prospective workers looking to move into higher-paying careers in fields like information technology and manufacturing. It became the mission of his startup company, KeyUp, which he hopes to build into a resource that local […]
Posted inAustin
Council wants action on city-owned vacant lots
City Council is looking to more than a dozen city-owned properties as opportunities to provide affordable housing, arts spaces, parkland and economic development, in some cases looking to emulate past developments on public land, such as Mueller and Seaholm. City staff has identified five sites as top candidates for major redevelopment that could have a […]
Posted inAustin
Accelerator targets gap between businesses, middle-skill workers
Middle-skill job growth, specifically Austin’s problem of matching longtime residents with jobs in growing industries, is the next target for the Impact Hub social improvement accelerator. The hub, which operates from sites in North and South Austin, is taking applications through mid-March for its Workforce Development Accelerator, which looks to spin up startup-like groups that […]