When Three Rival Cities Stopped Competing, and Started Collaborating

More from Dynamic Decisions Podcast All episodes →

1. 

   E46 · 12 Oct 2026 · 24 minNew

   Seats, Skills, and Mission: Building a Board That Fits

   Jessica Olives has spent more than fifteen years inside nonprofit and public sector governance, including the Port of Seattle, King County Housing Authority, and the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. Now she runs Mission Match, a nationwide platform where nonprofits search for board members by expertise, location, and cause instead of waiting for someone to answer a posting. What to do when the perfect skills match doesn't care about your mission: dig deeper first Why her first move on a dysfunctional board is the bylaws, not new recruits What nonprofits can borrow from public sector boards on…

2. 

   E45 · 7 Oct 2026 · 42 min

   Your Biggest Win Isn't a Unicorn. It's a Blueprint

   Marta Tarantsey spent 12 years in Oregon state service, from civil rights compliance at ODOT to certifying more than 400 small businesses to now serving as Business Oregon's liaison for four Southern Oregon counties. She does not advocate for one business over another, and she explains why that neutrality is how she helps all of them. Why treating Dutch Bros as a unicorn guarantees you never see another one, and what to ask instead A new Oregon tax credit for traded sector jobs: up to $1,000 per job, up to 10 jobs, for the 2026 tax year How reframing a grant application is following the…

3. 

   E44 · 5 Oct 2026 · 33 min

   What Turns a Farm Town Into the Fastest Growing City in America?

   Gloria Salinas runs growth strategy for one of the fastest growing cities in America, and she still says no to projects that don't fit the plan. As Chief Growth Officer for the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, she's helped turn a former farm town into a magnet for Fortune 500 headquarters, 16 corporate R&D centers, and a talent pool with double the national average of tech workers. How Frisco decides between infrastructure incentives and jobs based incentives on a case by case basis Why "soft incentives" like chamber membership and workforce task forces outlast the incentive dollar…

4. 

   E43 · 1 Oct 2026 · 38 min

   Data Doesn't Make Communities Work, People Do

   Kathleen Rose has spent 30+ years on both sides of the table: advising municipalities on real estate and economic development, and writing the checks as managing partner on South Main Square in downtown Davidson, North Carolina. She knows which plans lead to action and which ones collect dust. And she'll tell you, even when you'd rather not hear it. Why about 25% of every community plan repeats the same data, and how the Prosperity Builder Scorecard fixes it The two requirements in Amazon's HQ2 RFP that sent communities scrambling: quality of life and cultural fit Why talent attraction has…

5. 

   E42 · 28 Sep 2026 · 37 min

   Gentrification Is a Policy Choice

   Cornell Wesley left banking for an 88,000-person town in Arkansas, turned a $2 million fund into $30 million of economic activity in 11 months, and got a call from Washington asking how he did it. You'll love his response. Today he runs Prosper Portland, with a $200 million budget and 11 urban renewal districts. He talks to Teasha Cable about money, power, and who development is really for. Why tax abatements, infrastructure, and community benefits agreements all belong in the capital stack How the Coca-Cola bottling deal in Birmingham came together on a brownfield site Why he doesn't count…

6. 

   E41 · 21 Sep 2026 · 31 min

   Cooperation + Competition = "Coopetition"

   Todd Tucker has worked in economic development at three different altitudes: state commerce, utility site selection at Progress Energy, and now leading growth for a county whose tax base just jumped 30% in a single year. That range shows in how he thinks about the job. Why most companies can't actually answer "how much power do you need," and what economic developers ask to get a real number How Lee County's tax base grew 30% year over year to $8.8 billion, and the two levers, zoning and water and sewer access, local government actually has to manage it "Coopetition": working with Raleigh,…

7. 

   E39 · 16 Sep 2026 · 37 min

   After 25 Years at Amex, One Big Bet on Bank Partnerships

   David Blaha spent 25 years building relationships at American Express before becoming Chief Revenue Officer at Extend, a virtual card platform banks and fintechs use nationwide. His take: the smartest fintechs don't compete with banks, they arm them. How COVID turned virtual cards from a niche fix for interviewees and non-carded employees into an everyday bill pay tool for small and mid-size businesses Why Extend builds the capability and lets banks sell it, instead of competing with neobanks like Ramp and Brex head on What David had to unlearn from 25 years at Amex, from a full support team…

8. 

   E38 · 10 Sep 2026 · 35 min

   Forget the Deal. Build the Relationship First.

   Damien Denmark became Yukon, Oklahoma's first-ever economic development director in January 2026, He arrived from Olathe, Kansas with one rule: build the relationship before you need the deal. At only 30 years old, he's already moved a $100 million development through approval in 60 days and built his own incentive tool from scratch. Read that 2x. Learn how Denmark moved a $100M TIF district through approval in 60 days by getting bond counsel, developers, and attorneys in one room instead of six separate meetings Why 5,000 people showing up to Food Truck Saturdays in a town of 19,000 taught…

9. 

   E37 · 8 Sep 2026 · 31 min

   Revitalize...or Die

   Your City Is Sick...and More Jobs Isn't the Cure... Jeff has spent more than two decades helping downtowns recover, first as a Main Street manager running Ohio's statewide program, then as founder of Revitalize or Die and author of Your City is Sick. He joins Teasha to argue that economic development has solved for the wrong problem for forty years. Jeff's five points of civic pride: identity, aesthetics, community, standards, and engagement, and why "aesthetics" still gets dismissed as lipstick on a pig despite the real estate data behind it. The real diagnosis behind struggling downtowns:…

10. 

    E36 · 2 Sep 2026 · 28 min

    What's the Real Currency of Economic Development?

    Mandy White, Chief Economic Development Officer for the Greater Jackson, TN Chamber , has spent nearly three decades helping turn Jackson, Tennessee into a manufacturing hub home to 60 to 70 companies, including several Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 brands. In this episode, she breaks down what actually won the region's largest single investment ever, and how she keeps the workforce pipeline growing to match it. Spoiler alert, it wasn't incentives. How Jackson won a $425M Georgia Pacific plant, the largest investment in its history, by building trust with the site selection consultant before…