Through the work in recent years by the Greater Manhattan Project, the City of Manhattan, Region Reimagined, and the Knowledge Based Economic Development (KBED) partnership, consensus has emerged relative to building a more dynamic community and regional economy. This consensus has in turn highlighted the need not only for integrated strategies, but also for unified reporting regarding progress made.
Until now City, Chamber, and University leaders have had little sense of how, or if, various community economic development programming is aligned, and effectively no clear sense of aggregate progress made annually or over time. This document is designed to be the first integrated look at the vision, strategies, and results of all prosperity building programming in our community. The COVID-19 pandemic has created unexpected challenges and new opportunities for Manhattan’s future economic recovery and prosperity. This report seeks to outline the vision, strategies, and progress that our community’s economic development partners have acknowledged and are pursing in a single, unified format.
To be clear, any economic growth vision that is focused on the few rather than on the many will ultimately fail. It is incumbent on us to assure that our vision is focused on the many. For Manhattan to prosper it must create jobs with sufficient pay upon which a family may be raised. It is these jobs that matter and these jobs that underpin the personal, business, and public financial and social health of a community.
Download the full report below.
