A strong post-pandemic economy—despite media accounts to the contrary—combined with a sizzling hot industrial real estate market, and dramatic shifts in office work patterns have combined to turn the traditional practice of economic development upside down, Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics, told attendees of NAIOP's I.CON West: The Industrial Real Estate Conference taking place in Long Beach, California last month.
"We have to think differently about this," he said. "Migration patterns have changed. The old economic development mantra was 'jobs, jobs, jobs.' We don't need jobs anymore, we need workers. Economic development will be built around the labor market."
One of the biggest economic challenges today is the inability of businesses to hire enough workers.
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