At the height of the pandemic, Melbourne was subject to strict public health measures. The business community within the City of Casey, a local government on the south-east edge of Melbourne, responded with innovation to maintain connections with their customers. This is how they did it and what lessons they learned along the way.

In recent years, natural disasters, or hazards, such as wildfires and hurricanes have increased in frequency and intensity. Like the COVID-19 pandemic, natural hazards exacerbate racial economic inequities.

IEDC is embarking on a research project to understand how communities are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are seeking eight volunteer communities to work with over a 12- to 15-month period to learn from their efforts and further inform IEDC’s recovery and resilience work. The communities chosen will be diverse in size, industry, geography, and population.

Numerous industries have been negatively impacted by the pandemic with many scrambling to adapt and a select few able to respond swiftly. Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) have exposed the core weaknesses behind U.S. overreliance on global supply chains for critical medical products, raising concerns about resiliency in American advanced manufacturing. Prior to the COVID crisis, U.S. manufacturers struggled with global cost-competitiveness, however, innovation in the industry and new pressure on reshoring presents new opportunities for the industry and its workforce in a post COVID economy.