News & Media

Performance data is great, but without context, it can lead to some pretty entertaining conversations. Traffic is down 11%. Time to panic? Not so fast! If your entire industry is down 15%, you’re actually gaining ground. The numbers tell a story, but they don’t always give you the whole picture. That’s where Google’s latest update comes in. Google is adding benchmarking to Ask Advisor, giving businesses the ability to compare their performance against anonymized averages from similar companies.

The Town of Gilbert, Arizona has announced Jennifer Lindley will serve as the new Director of Economic Development beginning October 26. Jennifer joins Gilbert following a national search and brings more than 20 years of municipal leadership experience across Arizona. Most recently, she served as Downtown Development Manager for the Town of Queen Creek, where she led redevelopment strategy, coordinated interdepartmental project teams, and helped transform the town’s downtown core.

The Waco Housing Authority Board of Commissioners has appointed Rebecca Ellis as Acting President & CEO of the Waco Housing Authority. During her tenure with Waco Housing Authority, she has played a key role in strengthening organizational culture, improving operational efficiency, leading major agency initiatives, and supporting the Authority’s mission of serving families throughout the community.

During the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) and local economic development partners helped secure commitments for 26,225 projected new jobs and more than $109 billion in investment statewide—both single-year records. We have supported the economic development marketing needs of communities throughout Arizona for more than 20 years and congratulate ACA on its milestone fiscal year and for celebrating 15 years of impact in Arizona!

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty presented Greek-American Angelo K. Tsakopoulos with the Key to the City, honoring his 90th birthday and 75 years since he arrived in the United States from Greece. After settling in California, he studied political science and business at California State University, Sacramento and later launched his real estate business in 1963 and went on to build more than 40,000 homes and 30 million square feet of office space throughout Northern and Central California.

For the fourth year in a row, our team developed and implemented the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) annual Excellence in Partnering Awards Ceremony. Our creative team crafted the theme and overall design aesthetic for the event program, posters, signage, award certificates, and various other print and digital products. We also provided comprehensive event planning services for the day of the event.

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) is entrenched in so many aspects of our daily lives. One area very close to home for us is the use of AI in the graphic design industry. You may have noticed something strange happening to small-business flyers lately: they’re all starting to look the same. And no, it’s not because every local business owner suddenly enrolled in the same graphic design course. It’s AI.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently joined leaders from Solano County, Cal Poly Maritime Academy, and the California Jobs First Bay Area Region on Mare Island to announce $48.5 million in funding for 18 projects across eight economic regions and 33 counties. The investments are expected to support the creation of 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and represent the latest step in more than four years of regional planning, project development and strategic investment through the California Jobs First Regional Investment Initiative.

USGBC California has announced partnership agreements with California State University (CSU) and the Foundation for California Community Colleges, the official nonprofit partner of the California Community Colleges (CCC), to expand access to green career pathways, technical training, hands-on internships and professional networks for more than 2.5 million undergraduate, graduate, and community college students across 22 CSU campuses and 116 CCCs.

Applications are now open for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, providing merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 to talented American undergraduate students with high financial need to study or intern abroad. These experiences help students build international knowledge, professional networks, and foreign language skills.The application deadline is Thursday, October 1 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

PDDG is proud to continue our support of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and our clients and partners in the economic development industry. We will be exhibiting at the IEDC 2026 Annual Conference in New Orleans from October 25-28.