Welcome to Curated Morning. A compendium of news, information, and stories that economic development professionals, community development leaders and elected officials read every week to stay in touch with what is happening in our economy.

The Main Thing:

​General Dwight D. Eisenhower stood at the helm of the Allied forces in WWII, guiding a coalition of British, French, Russian, and other leaders to one of history’s most remarkable triumphs: the defeat of Hitler and the Nazis. The path to victory was anything but simple, demanding extraordinary courage and sharp strategy at every turn.

Even in victory, Eisenhower found himself taking note of certain German innovations. One in particular would leave a lasting mark on America’s landscape and economy: the interstate highway system.

After becoming President, Eisenhower was instrumental in securing the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, for passage. This legislation built the Interstate Highway System in the USA and has carried hundreds of millions of people and freight over it for many years.

​Eisenhower’s inspiration: The German Autobahn.

Imagine if Eisenhower had been captivated by the German train system instead. Would we now be gliding from coast to coast on sleek Maglev trains, pondering the absence of highways and reminiscing about a 'Federal-Aid Rail Act'? It never happened, but it’s fun to dream.

This week, I found inspiration wandering through an old train depot in Rockford, Illinois. Soon, this spot may welcome a new commuter train, connecting Rockford residents to Chicago. It may not be a futuristic maglev, but it is a step forward.

​Read my post about how railroads helped economic development in my hometown and see the accompanying sketch I created that goes with it.

Focus On Technology

Beyond the Battery: Rivian Bets Its Future on Homegrown AI Chips and Robotaxi Dreams

I have to admit to a bias. I don’t have an electric car yet. However, no matter the war on electric power the current administration has, the entire world and eventually the United States will be driving electric cars in the future. It is an better proposition in the long run than our current fossil fuel platform we currently use.

That’s one bias; the other is that when I do buy an electric car, I will likely buy a Rivian. The reason, which is a non-rational one but falls in line with the ‘buy-local’ concept, is that Rivian builds its cars here in Illinois. Rivian saved the former Mitsubishi plant in Normal after Mitsubishi left and has expanded there several times. Normal is where I went to school and worked, so it holds a special place in my heart. I know, not rational, but I am going with it. (plus Elon Musk, what need I say?)

At its inaugural Autonomy & AI Day in Palo Alto, California, Rivian unveiled an ambitious technology roadmap to bring autonomous driving in-house rather than rely on third-party suppliers. The electric vehicle maker announced it's developing its own custom silicon processor called RAP1 (Rivian Autonomy Processor), which will power a third-generation autonomy computer capable of processing 5 billion pixels per second.

The chip will debut in late 2026 R2 models alongside LiDAR sensors, creating what Rivian claims will be the most powerful combination of sensors and computing power in consumer vehicles in North America.

The company is targeting Level 4 autonomous driving capability, which would allow passengers to sleep while the vehicle operates without human oversight in normal conditions. Rivian will offer these self-driving features through an Autonomy+ subscription priced at $2,500 upfront or $49.99 monthly, with immediate rollout of Universal Hands-Free driving across 3.5 million miles of U.S. and Canadian roads.

​CEO RJ Scaringe explicitly acknowledged that this technology platform positions Rivian to eventually enter the ride-share and robotaxi market, directly challenging Tesla's long-promised but undelivered autonomous taxi service.

Why This Matters: This announcement signals a fundamental shift in how automakers approach the technology stack underpinning next-generation vehicles, with implications for manufacturing ecosystems and workforce development strategies. Rivian's decision to bring chip design and AI development in-house mirrors Tesla's earlier move and creates new opportunities for communities with semiconductor fabrication capabilities, AI talent pipelines, or advanced sensor manufacturing.

Economic developers should recognize that the traditional automotive supply chain is fragmenting into specialized technology clusters around autonomous systems, AI model training, and custom silicon design. Communities that position themselves as hubs for automotive software engineering, AI development, or advanced sensor production may capture higher-value jobs than traditional assembly operations.

Rivian's explicit mention of potential robotaxi services means communities will need to start planning infrastructure and regulatory frameworks for autonomous fleets sooner than many anticipated, creating immediate opportunities for forward-thinking jurisdictions to establish themselves as testing grounds and early adopters.

Take Action: If you really want your community to be on the leading edge of technology and not just a sentence on your website or marketing brochure, here are three things you could do:

1. Inventory your region's existing capabilities in semiconductor design, AI software development, sensor manufacturing, or automotive testing to identify potential connection points with the emerging autonomous vehicle supply chain. Realistically, there are only a few parts of the country where this applies, but there is no reason a few outlier communities might have a chance…go for it.
2. Once again, cooperation and collaboration with your community colleges or the adjacent research university is essential. Do they have, or are they developing, curriculum pathways for automotive AI engineering that emphasize the convergence of traditional automotive knowledge with software engineering and machine learning skills? Maybe there are autonomous-vehicle companies running pilot programs or testing operations you could work with.
3. Convene stakeholders across transportation planning, parking authorities, and business districts to begin scenario planning for how autonomous fleets might reshape parking demand, curb management, and transit access within five years.

Doing all this also requires you to update economic development marketing materials to highlight any existing advanced manufacturing capabilities, electrical engineering talent, or autonomous vehicle testing infrastructure that could attract companies following Rivian's vertical integration strategy.

Read Rivian's AI pivot is about more than chasing Tesla by Andrew J. Hawkins | The Verge here.

More articles on Technology:

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​The drone threat is here. Is your community ready? By Keith Stalder | RouteFifty

Other Articles of Interest this week:

AI -- Microsoft’s Nadella wants us to stop thinking of AI as ‘slop’ by Julie Bort | TechCrunch -- A couple of weeks after Merriam-Webster named “slop” as its word of the year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella weighed in on what to expect from AI in 2026. In his classic, intellectual style, Nadella wrote on his personal blog that he wants us to stop thinking of AI as “slop” and start thinking of it as “bicycles for the mind.”

Data Centers -- Google data centers will bring nuclear power back to tornado country by Anika Jane Beamer | Inside Climate News -- A destructive storm in 2020 prematurely shut down Iowa’s only nuclear plant. With Google’s plans to reopen it to power nearby data centers, will extreme weather threaten the reactor’s safety?

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​Green Economy --Hiking boot brand Keen enlists climate scientist Ann Radil by Elsa Wenzel | Trellis -- The self-described ''change agent' will lead climate, circularity and green chemistry work at a brand striving to be the "most trusted in the business.

How to Do Business Attraction

This is part of my new series on ‘how to do” economic development. It is not meant to substitute for IEDC or OUEDI training and certification, but rather a check on reality and some ideas I have put together over the years, successfully leading communities and creating economies. This month, “Attraction.” Some of you will be disappointed, but that’s ok…

You know the drill. You've got your marketing materials ready, your incentive package polished, your elevator pitch memorized. You have gone to the Site Selection forums. Now comes the hardest part: waiting by the phone for site selectors to call.

It's like dating in high school, except the popular kids never show up to the dance and you're left wondering if maybe you should've worn different shoes. Or had a different infrastructure. Or existed in a different state with better tax policy.

Meanwhile, something interesting is happening down the street from your office. Your local manufacturers are struggling to find reliable suppliers. Your downtown retailers are getting crushed by Amazon. Your best entrepreneurs are moving to a different state because they can't get capital here. Wealth is leaking out of your community like a screen door on a submarine.

But hey, at least you're attractive to site selectors, right? Or so you think. That’s what they told you. But like that hot date you had, they never call again (or in today’s world, text again).

What I have learned in the thirty years of working in three states and five communities is that companies don't locate in communities that need them. They locate in communities that are already thriving.

What makes a community thrive? Local businesses that grow and stay. Wealth that circulates instead of evaporating. An economy diverse enough to survive a downturn. Capital controlled by people who actually live there. Residents who own their economic destiny instead of renting it from distant corporations.

I call these economically independent communities. Want to start building that foundation? Try this:

First, figure out where your wealth is actually going. How much retail spending leaves town for Amazon and big-box chains? You might be shocked.

Second, talk to your existing businesses about their supply chains. Who are they buying from? If it's all external suppliers, there's your opportunity—and your vulnerability.

Third, check who actually owns your commercial real estate and who your major employers are. If most decisions affecting your economy are made in boardrooms three states away, you've got a control problem, not an attraction problem.

Build that foundation and something funny happens—you stop caring so much about attraction because you're too busy managing the prosperity you're creating from within.

And if outside companies do come calling? Great, because here's what I have learned: to attract, you must first be attractive.

The phone might not ring. But your economy will. And please…change your shoes.

Let me know if I can help by contacting me at martin@martinkarlconsulting.com​

Overheard:

The Rabbit Hole:

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Train Kept’ a Rollin

Since we are on the theme of trains, here is an interesting and very short article and video about a young man and his obsession with trains.

Everyone’s perception of the world is different. It truly is, and it is often shaped by our understanding of things, the environment we grew up in, trauma we may have experienced, which can range from severe to mild, yet trauma just the same, and our limited beliefs.

The perception of someone who is autistic can be even more profound than that of those of us who consider ourselves ‘normal,’ which is also a heavily laden value judgement. Watching this video reminded me of how some people can reach into the depths of thinking, such as understanding that machines have ‘souls’, which modifies not only their perception, but mine too.

​Read the article and watch the video here.

Here are a couple more rabbit holes to consider:

​Cano’s Castle: Colorado’s Shimmering Shrine of Scrap and Spirit by American-Discover the Unusual -- Out on a quiet street in Antonito, Colorado, four gleaming towers rise against the high-desert sky, catching the sun’s rays and blinding drivers on Highway 285 with flashes of silver and steel.

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​How we build perception from the inside out by Nigel Warburton | Aeon -- It’s easy to mistake our conscious experience for an ongoing, accurate account of reality. After all, the information we recover from our senses is, of course, the only window we’ll ever have into the outside world.

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