Laura Burtner
Becoming Trader Joe, by the firm’s founder Joe Coulombe, is one of the better books I have read in recent years. It clarified much of what I understand about their retail site and expansion decisions. For me, this included Coulombe’s initial objective of providing products for the over-educated and underpaid, products these customers could feel […]
Read More
Mercer County New Jersey’s emphasis on land preservation began over 30 years ago, resulting in a multitude of preserved parks and open spaces that reflect the diversity of Mercer County’s natural features. Protected open space provides substantial economic, environmental, and health benefits to surrounding communities, but these benefits are often overlooked or undervalued in policy debates and investment decisions. […]
Read More
Over the past five years, Econsult Solutions, through its former joint venture, completed cutting edge research on smart cities around the world, exploring how leading global cities begin their smart city journey, what they were investing in, and what those investments meant in terms of return on investment. We have learned that the use of […]
Read More
Technological disruption, public health scares, and pushback against systemic disparities have all elevated the importance of and demand for quality places in urban settings. At a time when technology and infrastructure have enabled people and businesses to locate anywhere and collaborate virtually, city and regional leaders increasingly need to evaluate, refine, and in some cases […]
Read More
Cities have always competed as places of human expression, cultural exchange, and commerce. An important way that future cities will compete is as inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. This is true for two reasons. First, in our global knowledge economy, regions compete through innovation. Second, innovation requires diversity and intensity of interaction. Despite the mythology around innovation—think […]
Read More
Project Background The Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in south Philadelphia had fallen to disuse. Hilco Redevelopment Partners developed plans for redevelopment of the brownfield, and enlisted Econsult Solutions to conduct an economic impact analysis of their projected reuse of the land for a mixed-use e-commerce and logistics center park. Repurposing the land is of […]
Read More