A study written by Chmura Economics & Analytics has been featured in the Roanoke Times: Study highlights financial benefits for I-73 communities. From the article:

A new business-backed study describes the proposed Interstate 73 as an economic bonanza for those Virginia communities where new pavement would be built.

It says construction of the roughly 70-mile segment would spawn travel services, businesses and warehouse operations while saving existing businesses a bundle on transportation and boosting government coffers.

"The cumulative benefits of I-73 will outweigh the costs in fewer than 10 years," said a report by Chmura Economics & Analytics, a Richmond firm.

Download the complete study.

Here are some links to additional coverage of the study:

• Study: I-73's impact would be huge - Martinsville Bulletin
• Study touts benefits of I-73 - The Franklink News-Post
• Interstate Proposal Could Reap Billions For Local Economy - WSLS 10

Northeast Ohio, USA has been recognized as one of the 2008 Top Seven Intelligent Communities:

Northeast Ohio, USA. The communities of this region are rising from the ashes of deindustrialization to recreate the entrepreneurial business, political and social culture that produced its first wave of prosperity. A successful fiber network deployment by OneCommunity has been leveraged by government and nonprofits to jumpstart new investment, improve healthcare delivery, bring the best in culture and education to urban schools, and engage tens of thousands of area leaders in collaboration over regional economic development.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Ohio is the worst in the nation when it comes to foreclosures. The study they cite ranks each state by the number of foreclosures as a percentage of all loans. From another perspective, we can look at the number of foreclosures per 1,000 people. In this statistic, Ohio ranks #3 with 8.96 foreclosures per 1,000 people. While that still isn't good, at least we aren't #1!

I am pleased to announce the release of the Chmura Blog site. This site, which you can access at http://www.chmuraecon.com/blog/, will serve as a portal for communication with our staff. We would be happy to hear from you regarding the topics you would be interested to read about. Please use the "Ask us!" link to the left to submit questions or topic suggestions. We will do our best to post messages related to these topics and to answer your economics / IT related questions.