They include Minnesota’s new cannabis law, the potential I-35 rightsizing project, and Duluth’s proposed geothermal heating project. Take a look at our most-read stories from 2023 (based on reader views). If you have an idea for a blog post, send us an email at [email protected].
10. Get to Know a Dataset: Employment and Wages Data Viewer (March 8, 2023)
Continuing our Get to Know a Dataset series, former UGRA Kenny Nadeau wrote about United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment and Wages Data Viewer (EWDV) dataset, which our team uses frequently to pull historical employment and wage data for different geographical regions, industries, and business sizes.
9. BBER Bulldogs-Turned-Hawkeyes Connect in Law School (October 13, 2023)
Haakan Thorsgard and Alexander Hook just missed working together at the BBER. Alexander was a BBER student from 2017 to 2019 and Haakan from 2020 to 2021. The two never met at UMD but stumbled onto a chance connection at the University of Iowa College of Law. In October, we reached out to them to ask about their law school experience, future plans, and to reflect on their time at the BBER.
8. Updating our Cheeseburger Price Index (February 13, 2023)
Given the continued concerns about inflation in early 2022, the BBER updated its Cheeseburger Price Index and compared it to The Economist’s famous Big Mac Index and the national Consumer Price Index. Following the publication of this article, BBER director Monica Haynes was also interviewed about the Cheeseburger Price Index on Bloomberg TV!
7. Lower Inflation Without a Recession: Actually Attainable in 2023 (January 4, 2023)
In December 2022, BBER Director Monica Haynes was invited by the Duluth News Tribune to share her thoughts on what the local economy might hold in the coming year. This article, originally published by the Duluth News Tribune on Sunday, December 25, outlined the five conditions that would be required for the Fed to achieve a soft landing.
6. Spotlight Series: Carson Gorecki (March 1, 2023)
Over the years, the BBER has frequently called on Carson Gorecki, the Regional Labor Market Analyst for Northeast Minnesota, to answer labor market questions, provide advice on data-related issues, or deliver trainings to LSBE students and faculty. In this installment of our “Spotlight Series,” Carson talks about his winding career path, skills he would like to learn, and our local housing challenges.
5. Geothermal Heating Project Puts Duluth in the Spotlight on Climate Innovation (August 3, 2023)
This past spring, Duluth was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 11 communities across the country to participate in a groundbreaking project focused on geothermal heating and cooling systems. This article, published in August, describes the project and explains how the BBER will be contributing to this exciting grant opportunity.
4. New Economic Data: Is Duluth Growing Like Its Peers? (February 1, 2023)
In this article, our former UGRA Kenny Nadeau analyzed how the GDP performance of the Duluth MSA compared to other similarly sized MSAs around the state—Fargo, St. Cloud, and Rochester—using 2021 regional GDP data from the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.
3. I-35 Rightsizing: Large Economic Impact Possible (March 21, 2023)
Growing community interest in a possible redesign of I-35 through downtown Duluth prompted the BBER and the U of M Extension’s Center for Community Vitality to conduct a study on the potential economic impact if the redesign were to happen. In this article, our team shared a visual summary of our findings, as well as the full report, “Economic Effects of the Potential I-35 Conversion in Downtown Duluth.”
2. New Minnesota Cannabis Law to Bring in Extra Revenue for State (May 24, 2023)
In honor of the passage of Minnesota’s new cannabis law in May 2023, the BBER revisited a blog post from July 2022 written by former UGRA Erin Hopkins that looked at how much other states have collected in tax revenue since legalizing cannabis and how those funds have typically been used.
1. Burgess, Advocate for Community Economic Development, Retires (January 18, 2023)
After eleven years as president and CEO of National Bank of Commerce (NBC), Steve Burgess transitioned into retirement on December 31, 2022. In our most popular article of 2023, Steve shared his thoughts with BBER Director Monica Haynes about his time with NBC, his vision for its future, and the state of the regional economy.