A Note from DRF: A question we find ourselves asking right now is what communities will look like and how they will operate in a post-pandemic world. As restrictions are lifted, we may freely move about more but some businesses, organizations and those in the workforce will still struggle to recover for some time to come. DRF asked our friend Ted Abernathy with Economic Leadership LLC to curate some thoughts on the subject from leaders across the United States to help us think about what’s next.

What will be the post COVID-19 impact?

• The economic recovery will be uneven.
• “No vaccine, no recovery” RSM chief economist
• Pro biz states with good biz climate will see growth and economic prosperity at a greater rate than the traditional states that have deeply entrenched anti-business climates.
• The union environment will create winners and losers: RTK states will see better growth prospects, states with strong public sector unions will add pressure to state budgets and negatively impact growth prospects.
• The Congressional Budget Office projects 8 years for GDP to come back.
• Manufacturing will come back to North America gradually, states that make it attractive will benefit.
• Rural America will be attractive again to some companies.
• State economies based on travel and tourism will rebound much more slowly.
• Work From Home (WFH) is here to stay for some types of companies, and it will impact where employees live, quality of live, etc.
• Communities with good broadband can be big winners.  
• For education, distance learning here to stay, and it will disrupt k-12 education and higher education systems.
• Small public and private colleges will struggle, they need to adapt or go out of business.
• Workforce training systems will need to up their game, still a problem, lots of jobs and too many potential workers with insufficient skills.
• Innovation and change will accelerate.
• More investment in automation, expect Artificial Intelligence soon and the rise of the robots.