Success Stories

The seafood industry is often described as the lifeblood of Maine, providing food to customers the world over. Generations of fishermen have sailed its waters in search of lobsters, crabs, scallops, and a variety of other fish. In recent years, the cultivation of oysters, mussels, seaweed, and other species has added to their hauls. Seafood, along with forestry, agriculture, and outdoor recreation, is one of the iconic natural resource-based industries that dominate the economy in the Pine Tree State.

The place-based investment is core to EDA’s mission, with our team working closely with local community leaders to ensure EDA’s grants support targeted economic development based on each community’s unique needs. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, which allows EDA’s grants to be flexible, dynamic, and meet the moment that’s called for in each community. In Lubbock, Texas, that has translated into multiple EDA investments, as leaders turn a painful Air Force Base closure into economic opportunity for the region.

With a focus on rural communities, a venture fund in western Colorado is helping to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses. The Greater Colorado Venture Fund (GCVF) started in 2018 and focuses on supporting early-stage startups.

The name St. Petersburg conjures up visions of warm, sandy beaches, a variety of theme parks, and two-time Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like many cities today however, St. Petersburg is looking to redefine itself, with an eye on technology and the innovation that drives it.

An EDA grant to Indianapolis-based venture development firm Elevate Ventures has provided free entrepreneurship training to more than 500 entrepreneurs from across Indiana since 2019 – more than twice what was projected.

As home to the fifth largest seaport in the United States and a maritime industry valued at $38 billion, Washington state may not seem like a place that needs additional resources to support maritime-directed economic development. But four-year-old Seattle-based nonprofit Washington Maritime Blue is helping fill a very specific gap in the region’s economic landscape.

The East End of Houston has a long history of early industry. Now, that landscape is shifting, transforming into a core of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Lyndonville is a rural Vermont community, once described by Boston Magazine as one of the fifteen “best small towns” in...

Only about 5,500 people live in Zeeland, Michigan, but that number can triple during the workday as employees flock to several manufacturing businesses in the area.