Martin Karl Vanags
Join business owners and leaders, entrepreneurs, community and economic development professionals in learning about the latest trends impacting your future today. Today, more than ever, technology, the green economy, leadership and human performance intersect. Gaining knowledge and wisdom in these ares make for a well-informed leader. Every Thursday I curate these topics as well as articles about the quirky and fun things in life (think music, food and drink).
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The Main Thing: We take for granted our ability to get into our cars and go anywhere we want, especially those who don't live in large urban areas or places where public transportation is pervasive. When putting together an annual personal budget, there is always a line item for my car payment and insurance. I'm sure that is the same for many of you. The convenience of having a car can add up financially, and for some, that is okay. For others, it is not. Transportation is pivotal in our modern age, whether our car, public transit, bicycling, scootering, or other micro-mobility assets. It's not just a means of getting from point A to point B but a lifeline that connects us to work, the store, the doctor's office, and our loved ones. Unless you live in a big city, where many places are within walking distance, transportation is often the key to getting around. This underscores the profound impact that transportation has on economic development, shaping the growth and prosperity of our communities. Leaders can point to transit-based economic development as working. Countless projects in the USA and worldwide, such as revitalizing downtown areas due to improved public transit, show that transit-based or transportation-based economic development works to our communities' advantage and sometimes disadvantage. Focus on Economic Development Dallas-Houston high-speed rail proposal could benefit ‘whole of Texas,’ Amtrak executive says by Dan Zukowski | SmartCitiesDive In Illinois, when the Obama administration introduced funding for high-speed rail on an Amtrak line that went through our community, I was educated to call it "higher-speed rail" to avoid confusing it with the type of rail we see everywhere else. After years of planning, Amtrak is now making significant strides in bringing true high-speed rail to Texas. The focus is on connecting Dallas and Houston, potentially creating America's first central high-speed rail corridor. The national rail carrier has recently taken over from Texas Central Partners on the ambitious $30 billion project, which has already cleared initial environmental reviews, marking a significant step forward. While significant hurdles remain—including funding, land acquisition, and political support—Amtrak's leadership sees the Texas triangle connecting Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio as its most promising opportunity to revolutionize American rail travel, citing the region's explosive growth and economic potential. Transit-oriented economic development, will be on display in a big way in Texas. This approach focuses on creating vibrant, livable communities around transit stations, which could be a significant outcome of the high-speed rail project. As Illinois’ Governor Recruits Data Centers, Chicagoans’ Electricity Bills Are Getting More Expensive by By Brett Chase, Dan Gearino | Inside Climate News I worked on a data center project in New York State that saw the advantage of hydropower in a small community where a paper mill once stood. The project never happened, but the lure of cheap electricity kept potential projects interested in the site. In Illinois, large power-hungry projects powering America's AI ambitions are about to hit Chicago residents' wallets. According to this article, ComEd customers are facing an extra $10.50 on their monthly electricity bills due to the rapid growth of power-hungry data centers in the region. Chicago is now the nation's third-largest data center market - and utilities' need to ensure grid stability as these facilities consume as much electricity as entire neighborhoods. While Governor Pritzker sees data centers as crucial to Illinois' economic future, critics and residents question whether the benefits outweigh the costs, especially as electricity demand from these facilities is projected to triple nationally by 2030, potentially straining both infrastructure and household budgets. Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They Take based on research of Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda.| KellogInsight October 2020. How many companies or businesses in your community have been started by a foreign-born person? Do you know? The number might surprise you. Even today, the several American companies that make headlines most often, Tesla, SpaceX and X, are owned by an immigrant, Elon Musk (born in South Africa). The authors of this article have conducted studies that challenge common beliefs about immigration's economic impact, finding that immigrants create more jobs than they take. Research analyzing multiple datasets, including Fortune 500 companies and Census records, reveals immigrants start businesses at an 80% higher rate than native-born Americans across all company sizes. These immigrant-founded firms often pay higher wages and generate more patents than those started by U.S.-born entrepreneurs. The research suggests that rather than depressing wages or taking jobs, immigration may actually boost economic opportunities for native-born workers by increasing overall labor demand through entrepreneurship. Other Articles of Interest this week: Leadership -- The Goldilocks Approach to Searching for Something New based on the research of Suraj Malladi | KelloggInsight -- What’s the ideal way to search for something we want when we’re in unfamiliar territory—like a novice tennis player shopping for her first racket? A mathematical model developed by the Kellogg School’s Suraj Malladi and colleagues brings us one step closer to answering this question. The model finds that the optimal search process involves determining what the worst-case scenario looks like based on the information currently available and hedging against that outcome, then repeating that process until we arrive at a “sweet spot” of similarly good options. Technology -- Another Car-Sharing Startup Is Dead. Why Is Car Sharing So Difficult? By Nithin Coca | Next City -- Gig Car Share has joined the ranks of Car2Go, Maven and a slew of attempts. What does its failure mean for the future of car-share in America? City/Rural -- Loosening alcohol laws to revitalize your city’s economy is a mistake by Daniel Skiles | SmartCitiesDive Opinion -- Cities must keep our public spaces alcohol-free to preserve health and safety, warns a policy consultant for a public health organization. Green Economy-- New York City’s decarbonization accelerator by ICF -- New York City’s iconic skyline comprises thousands of buildings, each serving as a lightning rod for ambitious, creative, and innovative thinkers to come together. Most of the buildings' heating, cooling, and power systems will require the application of that same cutting-edge thinking to decarbonize their building systems. Something you Should Read: When does aging begin? The moment we draw our first breath, technically. Yet in our youth-obsessed culture, hitting sixty somehow became the universal signal that you're "over the hill." Well, I'm staring down 64 in 2025, and I can tell you this: I have zero plans to step aside. The thought of traditional retirement honestly makes me uneasy - and not just because I need to maintain my lavish lifestyle (I'm kidding, mostly). That's why Pat Whitty's recent article, "The Call to Adventure: Embracing the Hero's Journey of Aging," got me thinking. He brilliantly reframes each decade after 40 as its own Hero's Journey, drawing on Joseph Campbell's famous monomyth from "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." Here's what's remarkable - Whitty himself is in his eighties and still discovering new truths, embracing fresh wisdom, and taking on new challenges. Whether you're 40 and plotting your next career move, or like me, in your sixties and wrestling with society's expectations about when to "retire," this article offers a refreshing perspective. Rather than seeing aging as a slow fade into irrelevance, Whitty presents it as a series of adventures, each with its own challenges and opportunities for growth. You'll find it as enlightening as I did. Take a look. Related: I came across this video called “Frank.” The short (15-minute) documentary is about a New Jersey lawyer who tried his last case at age 99. It’s a sweet and moving video. Watch it here. Leadership seems in short supply these days. This is where economic developers can come in. This ebook can help you understand how mindset can be the strategy that gives you the framework you need:
Overheard : "Life is like a ten-speed bicycle; most of us have gears that we never use." Charles M. Schultz, Peanuts creator Listen, Eat, Drink, Watch, READ, View Have you been to a ChristKndl Market? I have seen videos by YouTubers of the best European ChristKndl Markets, and they are catching on here in the United States. Her is the United States, the overachieving community of Carmel, Indiana (pronounced like the candy not like that fancy town in California). In another life, I spent much time in Carmel, Indiana, and it is quite an impressive place. What they have done to create a downtown and central business district is remarkable, not to mention the hundreds, yes, hundreds, of traffic circles or roundabouts (the most in the USA). Listen, Eat, Drink, WATCH, READ, View In the past decade, we have seen two women candidates for the presidency. But Hillary Clinton wasn’t the first Female candidate for President. That honor goes to Victoria Claflin Woodhull. She ran for President of the United States in the 1872 election, which Ulysses S. Grant won (his second term). Woodhull was not only the first woman to run for President, but she and her sister also started and ran the first female-owned stock brokerage on Wall Street. This enterprising woman also owned and ran several newspapers before divorcing her second husband, marrying a third, and moving to England, where she became one of the first women to drive a car in England. LISTEN, Eat, Drink, WATCH, Read, View My fifth-grade teacher had our entire class stand every morning and recite several poems, speeches, and the preamble to the Constitution. These words, once mere recitations, have now become a part of my personal history. I can still remember the opening lines of William Wadsworth Longfellows' Paul Revere's Ride: "Listen, my children, and you shall hear, Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the 18th April of '75; hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year… Reciting the opening lines of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was a shared experience that bonded us as a class. If you were paying attention in history class, you know the opening lines too, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." It is also inscribed on the wall at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. To give the speech and its meaning even more perspective, one only needs to watch a Ken Burns documentary about a school where reciting the 272-word speech is a requirement. Watch this documentary and see how the young men at this school try to learn the words of one of the most revered and important speeches in our history. Listen, Eat, Drink, WATCH, Read, View If you have nothing else to do, watch this. Thanks for Reading If you liked this email, pay it forward. Share it with someone you think might benefit. Did someone share with you? Sign up here. For previous editions, click here. Whenever you’re ready, there are several ways I can help you: 1. Economic Development: If you are looking to supercharge your economic development organization, I can help by strategizing and developing a roadmap to success. Set up a time to talk to me here. 2. Culture Change; Is your organization changing? Would you like to create an asset out of your culture? Do you know how to assess team strengths? Let me help you. I'm a certified culture change practitioner. Set up a time to talk to me here. 3. The Green Economy; The world is changing. Some of it is positive, and some of the change is not. Let me help you develop green economy opportunities for your community. Set up some time to talk about here. 4. Mentoring Programs: Circles of Seven (C7) is a proven and award-winning model for mentoring. Whether it is for business or your community leadership program, I can develop a mentoring program for you. Let's talk about your situation. Set up a time here. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding any articles in this newsletter please feel free to contact me through email at martin@martinkarlconsulting.com. You can review my services and offerings at www.martinkarlconsulting.com |
Martin Karl Vanags
Join business owners and leaders, entrepreneurs, community and economic development professionals in learning about the latest trends impacting your future today. Today, more than ever, technology, the green economy, leadership and human performance intersect. Gaining knowledge and wisdom in these ares make for a well-informed leader. Every Thursday I curate these topics as well as articles about the quirky and fun things in life (think music, food and drink).