This past week, the U.S. Army called for another round of Base Realignment and Closure, otherwise known as BRAC. Many economic development teams and regional leaders are obviously saddened. No community wants to lose a military base. The BRAC program is a process the Department of Defense uses to restructure military bases in order to […]
Education spending, the single largest financial obligation of state and local governments throughout the United States, is on a decline. The reduced funding is related to decreasing local tax revenues and state and federal funding cuts. The result is alarming and surely it’s time to look for new ways to resolve the problem. Most taxpayers […]
A new executive category has become somewhat common in government – a Director of Innovation. Individuals hired to these positions are charged with finding new and innovative ways to fund projects, provide services or create large-scale efficiencies. Some have made great strides and taxpayers are beneficiaries. Because of this, there may be much more thought […]
Many Texas communities and public officials participated in a nationwide Stand Up 4 Transportation Rally recently. The objective was to get the attention of Congress. A May 31 deadline is looming and Congress must address the current stop-gap surface transportation bill or it will become insolvent. That would be a disaster because the Highway Trust […]
Much has been written about the critical state of the country’s roads and bridges. It’s heartening to finally hear some positive news. In March, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced two major Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans for more than $403 million. The money will be used to leverage other funding […]
Here’s an alarming statistic…in the United States, cars, trucks and school buses cross the nation’s 61,064 structurally compromised bridges 215 million times every day. How comforting is that? Those statistics are from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). And, in the organization’s most recent report on deficient bridges in the United States, we […]
Maybe more than you think! If you are a community leader, a nonprofit board member or a parent interested in public safety or education, chances are you are involved in what could be called a latent megacommunity, even though the term may not be common. Megacommunities are designed to provide values and benefits to people […]