Dynamic Decisions Podcast

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 construction jobs, and why clawbacks have to be written in up front

• The case that gentrification is a policy choice, and what cities owe the neighborhoods they disinvested in

• How Prosper Portland's community leadership committees changed who sets the agenda

If you work in economic development, this one will change how you read your next development agreement.