Business Unusual: Local manufacturers adapt, preserve jobs, and carry on during pandemic

In Alabama’s largest city, a story of economic confidence in an unlikely place.

For years, one of Cleveland's poorest neighborhoods seemed unalterable no matter how many government programs and well-meaning philanthropies got involved; a place where abject poverty, joblessness and crime reinforce the racism in a city long divided, and where infants still die at a higher rate than almost anywhere else in the country. But a former CIA executive and a new breed of lettuce are transforming the poorest parts of the Rust Belt city.

Raton, a town once surrounded by eight coal mines, now has a main street of boarded-up buildings. There is reason for optimism as the town diversifies its local economy, betting on "a mix of small manufacturing businesses, health care and specialty services, and hospitality for travelers" to endure the sudden decline in mining revenue. Its calculated revitalization may hold lessons for other towns.

RedTire is a program operating in Kansas that helps coordinate the selling and buying of businesses. The service has proven critical in rural areas that often only have a single key entity, like a pharmacy, and would suffer greatly if it were to shut down. RedTire serves as a "matchmaking" service to assist these communities in finding new owners to take over at a fair price.

After Nepal's 2015 earthquake, many village women were left in financial devastation and struggled to support their families. The earthquake destroyed up to 90% of small enterprises and markets, so the United Nations Development Programme trained women how to weave. As a mode of recovery, the weaving industry has helped rebuild the economic and social structures through the Panchakanya group.

The Social Innovation Summit, hosted in New York City, examines five key elements that allow the strategy of marketing to the base of the pyramid to actually succeed, and the companies big and small that are leveraging this approach to sustainably break the cycle of poverty in varied industries for communities around the world.

Alabama's Historic Prattville Redevelopment Authority has emulated the successful downtown revitalization project in Columbus, Georgia, in an effort to address vacant industrial sites and a blighted downtown. Through a collaboration with local entrepreneurs, a private real estate company, the Chamber of Commerce, and other departments and members of the local government, the HPRA is transforming the small city. Several local business prepare to open, the old cotton gin mill will open new apartments, and recent community events demonstrate an increasing public interest in a revitalized downtown Prattville.

There are state differences in green investment and this can affect the economy of each, especially post-recession. Green investing can create more jobs and have an indirect impact by encouraging more business due to cheaper electric bills from greater use of renewable energy.

The Maasai are the "tall, elegant, and distinctively dressed" people living in Africa. Their image is usually used to represent all Africans and is being culturally appropriated by western companies without any profit to the Maasai people. The Maasai IP Initiative to help them trademark and protect their brand.

In an under-developed area of Anchorage Alaska, a development project run by Cook Inlet Housing is transforming the community. The development project is bringing in new businesses that are taking advantage of the infrastructure and location of this part of the city. This could attract more businesses and be a positive addition to the community.