Congratulations to HR&A Senior Advisor Derek Fleming on his selection to the ULI Responsible Property Investment Council (RPIC).

Derek brings more than 20 years of experience advancing people-centered, community-driven development at the intersection of real estate, culture, and economic development. His work focuses on cultural capital, centering historic, cultural, and community assets as drivers of equitable development, institutional strength, and long-term wealth creation for historically marginalized communities.

At HR&A, Derek helps policymakers, investors, and institutions navigate development in ways that preserve cultural identity while creating durable economic value. His work spans public-private partnerships, cultural districts, sports- and university-anchored development, and advising HBCUs on leveraging land and cultural assets for long-term sustainability. His portfolio also includes cultural investment and impact analysis, such as HR&A’s Forest Theater Impact Analysis in South Dallas, as well as food systems planning through projects like the Durham Farm Campus, which leverages food, land, and entrepreneurship to address food insecurity, workforce development, and generational wealth creation.

ULI’s RPIC brings together senior industry leaders from across the country committed to embedding People, Planet, and Profit into real estate investment decision-making. The Council’s focus on aligning market-rate returns with meaningful social and environmental impact closely mirrors Derek’s career-long commitment to development that builds both economic value and community power.

We’re proud to see Derek contribute his expertise in cultural capital strategy, deal structuring, and community-centered investment to this important forum. Congratulations, Derek!

This press release was originally issued by Ameren.

Study estimates company’s operations are generating more than $20.7 billion in annual economic output.

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ameren Corporation’s (NYSE: AEE) operations in Missouri and Illinois triggered more than $20.7 billion in annual economic output, according to a study by a leading market research and development firm.

Conducted by HR&A Advisors and commissioned by Ameren, the study analyzed direct spending by the company on functions such as payroll, capital equipment, supplier services, and the additional economic benefits that are generated when those investments prompt other businesses and consumers to spend money on housing, capital goods, and retail. In short, every dollar and job related to Ameren’s operations in the bi-state area are generating additional leading-wage jobs, disposable income and increased tax revenue for communities and public institutions in the bi-state region.

Study Highlights

• • Jobs: 55,200 supported by Ameren’s annual economic activity
  • Vendor/Suppliers: $2.2 billion purchased from in-state suppliers in Missouri and Illinois
  • Taxes: $920 million contributed to state and local governments
  • Philanthropy: $10.6 million in support to meet critical community needs

  “Every day, our employees, suppliers and contractors are working to strengthen and expand our energy grid, bolstering reliability and resiliency for customers, while facilitating economic expansion,” said Martin J. Lyons Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ameren Corporation. “The results of this economic impact study validate that our ongoing energy infrastructure investments and operations are delivering unprecedented benefits in the communities where we live and work.”

   

  The study also cites Ameren’s annual efforts to manage costs and streamline operational efficiency to help mitigate the impact of rising energy costs. Efforts to keep rates as low as possible are increasing spending power for Ameren’s residential and business customers, further contributing to economic impacts.

   

  In addition, the technical assistance provided by Ameren to new, expanding and relocating businesses created 3,728 new jobs in the company’s two-state service territory in 2025. In total, 73 economic development projects triggered $3.56 billion in capital investment by those businesses.

   

  In 2025, businesses across Ameren Missouri’s service territory created 2,273 new jobs and invested $1.56 billion. Some of those businesses include:

  • • Amazon recently completed a new 61,000-square-foot last-mile delivery station in the SEMO Industrial Park in Scott City, Missouri. Amazon also invested $15 million in capital and created 70 new jobs for the area.
    • WEG Transformers USA, a leading producer of transformers, is expanding in Washington, Missouri, investing $77 million and creating 50 new jobs.
    • IKO, a global leader in the manufacturing and supply of residential shingles, commercial roofing and waterproofing products, is investing more than $120 million in a new 220,000-square-foot facility and creating more than 50 new jobs for its subsidiary, Bismarck Granules, in Bismarck, Missouri.

    In 2025, businesses across Ameren Illinois’ service territory created more than 1,455 new jobs and invested $2 billion. Some of those businesses include:

    • • Western Smokehouse Partners, a leading co-manufacturer and private-label producer, is expanding in Galesburg, Illinois, investing $50 million and creating 180 new jobs.
      • Prysmian Group, the world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, is expanding in Du Quoin, Illinois, investing $63.8 million and creating 80 new jobs.
      • Wieland Metals, a leading global supplier of semi-finished copper and copper alloy products, is expanding in East Alton, Illinois, investing $500 million and creating 700 new full-time jobs.

      Ameren was also recently selected as one of Business Facilities magazine‘s 2026 Top Utilities for Economic Development.

       

      Additional Coverage: 

      Ameren Operations In Missouri And Illinois Drive $20.7 Billion In Annual Economic Output — SolarQuarter

      Ameren Boosts Economic Growth in Missouri and Illinois — Filmogaz

      Ameren’s Operations Generate Over $20.7 Billion in Annual Economic Output — SSB Crack

      Ameren’s two-state operations trigger $20B+ in annual economic output, says new report — Daily Energy Insider

       

With two decades of experience at the intersection of technology and public policy, Sarah brings unparalleled expertise in broadband access, digital equity, and public interest technology. She comes to HR&A fromleading roles at the Open Technology Institute and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where she helped stand up nearly $50 billion in federal broadband programs, including the landmark BEAD initiative. We sat down with Sarah to discuss her journey, what drew her to HR&A, and her vision for closing the digital divide.

Can you share a little about your background?

I’ve spent the past two decades working on broadband access and adoption issues. I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and while earning my JD and Master of Laws in space, cyber, and telecommunications law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I became interested in the dichotomy between the fast-paced transformations of the tech world and the slow evolution of the laws that govern it.

That realization brought me to Washington, DC., where I started as a fellow at Media Access Project, which provided legal support to public interest advocacy organizations working on technology policy. From there, I moved to the Open Technology Institute at New America, where I spent 12 years building the broadband access and adoption practice and ultimately serving as executive director.

In early 2022, I joined the Department of Commerce at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the agency that serves as the president’s principal adviser on tech and telecommunications issues. At NTIA, I launched grant programs to invest $50 billion to support broadband access and adoption. I led the mapping team that worked with the FCC and states to ensure broadband availability maps were ready for announcing state funding allocations.

Halfway through my tenure, I became deputy administrator, which broadened my portfolio to include public safety issues like FirstNet, our first responders network, and the Wireless Innovation Fund, which supports transformative new wireless technologies.

What brought you to HR&A?

I spent so much time in government standing up these critically important programs, and now they’re very much in the implementation phase, where the rubber hits the road. HR&A has a strong track record of supporting state broadband offices, industry partners, and communities implementing the BEAD program.

More broadly, the opportunity to work alongside colleagues across the firm on housing, healthcare, workforce development, and economic development is compelling. We can’t think about technology policy as separate from housing, healthcare, workforce development, and economic development. It’s foundational to how we solve public policy challenges today. The chance to work with incredible people on the top policy issues of our time and integrate technology into that problem-solving is what excites me about being here.

What do you see as the future of broadband and digital opportunity?

I think about this in two ways: near-term and long-term.

Near-term, we simply have to get people connected. There’s no excuse for communities to lack internet access or for people not have the tools they need to get online and actually use that access. The immediate future is finally closing the digital divide using every tool at our disposal—both inside and outside government.

Long-term, we need to understand that technology policy isn’t its own isolated thing. Technology issues are the backbone of every public policy problem we confront. The future of broadband and digital opportunity involves recognizing the wholly integrated nature of both the problem and the solution.

For example, if you look at the widespread deployment of AI tools and their rapid adoption by individuals, industries, and policymakers, you can see how the challenges these tools create aren’t limited to a narrow technology policy slice. Figuring out how to support clients and partners in thinking about these issues as fully integrated. That’s the longer-term phase of this work, and that’s where I’m focused.

Learn more about Sarah Morris.

There’s continued momentum at the Capitol Heights Metro station! WMATA has selected Atlantic Pacific Companies to move forward as the development partner for joint development at the Capitol Heights Metrorail station. The announcement was marked with an on-site celebration earlier this week, joined by Maryland Governor Wes Moore. 

HR&A has been proud to serve as WMATA’s advisor on this effort—helping frame the development opportunity, prepare solicitation materials, and support the evaluation of proposals. Following this milestone, we look forward to continuing our work with WMATA as transaction negotiations move forward toward a joint development agreement. 

Congratulations to WMATA and all partners involved in bringing this vision one step closer to reality. 

Related coverage:

Metro Selects Atlantic Pacific Companies (A|P) for Capitol Heights Station Joint Development — WMATA

Metro selects developer for $140M mixed-use project at Capitol Heights station — Washington Business Journal

HR&A Advisors was honored to have Director Eri Furusawa speak at Japan’s Academy for Gender Parity, joining leaders committed to ensuring that women and people with marginalized identities have a meaningful voice in shaping government decisions that impact them. Eri shared HR&A’s approach to inclusive community engagement and our work supporting newly elected mayors as they set priorities for their first term.

She highlighted lessons from Reclaim Gwinnett Place Mall, where HR&A helped translate community voices into an Equitable Redevelopment Plan, and from All In Allegheny, where we supported Allegheny County’s first female County Executive and led the largest community engagement effort in county history to shape her first-term Action Plan on topics including housing, economic development, childcare, and health.

We are grateful for the positive feedback from participants—including elected officials, nonprofit leaders, political campaign experts, and academics—following the session:

“こんな取り組みがあるのか！とひたすら驚きました。本当に勉強になりました。”
“I was amazed to learn that these initiatives exist. It was truly eye-opening.”  

“身近な自治体で次の総合計画の策定時期のところがいくつかあり、住民参加のあり方について考える時間となりました。”
“Several municipalities near me are about to begin developing comprehensive plans, so this session was helpful for me to reflect on how resident engagement should be designed to inform these efforts.”  

“ジェンダー平等とまちづくりというテーマは本当にうれしかったです。なぜならば、ジェンダーと多様性から最も遠いテーマがまちづくり、都市計画、建築、土木の分野です。このセミナーを何度もやってほしいです、本当に素晴らしかったです。”
“I was truly glad to see gender equality and city-making discussed together. These fields—urban planning, architecture, civil engineering—are often farthest from discussions regarding gender and diversity. I hope you offer this seminar many more times; it was outstanding.” 

Learn more about Japan’s Academy for Gender Parity.

Translation:

日本で若手女性のリーダーシップを養成されているパリテアカデミー様によるセミナー「ジェンダー・公平性の視点から考えるまちづくり―アメリカ地方自治体における政策立案の現場から」に弊社ディレクターの古澤えりが登壇させていただきました。古澤は、HR&A が全米各地で取り組むインクルーシブな住民参加プロセスや、新しく就任される女性・マイノリティの首長さんの重点政策づくりを支援するアプローチについて紹介しました。取り上げた事例には、住民の声を「公平な再開発計画（Equitable Redevelopment Plan）」へと結びつけた Reclaim Gwinnett Place Mall、そして大規模の住民参加を通じて、就任したてのサラ・イナモラート県知事のアクションプランを策定した All In Allegheny が含まれます。

オンラインでは９３名の方にお申込みいただき、会場では２０名の方に参加していただきました。パリテアカデミーの皆様、貴重な機会をどうもありがとうございました。パリテアカデミー様の活動はこちらからご覧ください 

Financial inclusion—access to high-quality, low-cost, user-friendly financial services—is a fundamental building block of economic stability. Yet today, 62 million Americans are unbanked or underbanked, a figure equivalent to twice the population of Texas. The consequences are significant: lack of access to traditional banking often forces households to rely on expensive or predatory financial services, costing American families an estimated $22 billion each year and limiting their ability to build savings, manage emergencies, and plan for the future.

After more than a decade of conducting banking access studies in cities and states across the country, HR&A is proud to launch Unbanked America, a first-of-its-kind, publicly accessible digital platform that brings together national, state, and demographic data on financial inclusion. This new resource makes it possible for policymakers, practitioners, community leaders, and residents to explore banking access with clarity and precision—no specialized tools or expertise required.

Unbanked America allows users to examine how every state compares on unbanked and underbanked rates, track trends over time, and understand how financial exclusion relates to household status, race, ethnicity, and citizenship. Through an interactive map, longitudinal data, and accessible storytelling, the platform highlights both persistent inequities and areas of progress. For example, states like Mississippi continue to be hotspots for financial exclusion, while others have seen meaningful improvements over the last decade.

Built on data from reliable national sources, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Unbanked America simplifies complex datasets into a unified, easy-to-use interface. For the first time, information that was previously scattered across multiple sources is available in a single place—free and open to the public.

The stakes could not be higher. At a moment of growing economic uncertainty, helping Americans make the most of their money is both urgent and essential. Unbanked America equips communities with the insight needed to identify barriers, shape solutions, and advance policies that strengthen financial resilience.

Explore the platform and learn what the data reveals about your community.

Sacramento State is advancing plans for a multi-use campus in the heart of downtown Sacramento, proposing student housing for 1,000 to 2,000 upperclassmen and graduate students alongside academic and commercial space. The project draws inspiration from successful models such as Arizona State University’s downtown Phoenix campus, which opened in 2006 to address both enrollment growth and downtown revitalization. 

In this interview with @PBS KVIE, Managing Partner Kate Collignon points to lessons from other downtown campuses: strategic university investment can simultaneously elevate a school’s visibility and help reshape a city’s urban core. This approach to downtown activation through institutional investment represents a promising path forward for cities seeking to reimagine their urban cores in an evolving economic landscape. 

This conversation echoes the growing national interest in university-driven downtown revitalization and aligns with the work HR&A is leading across the West from our new San Francisco Bay Area office. As we shared in our recent office launch announcement, the region is at the forefront of innovation around the very issues reshaping cities everywhere  

We’re excited to see Sacramento explore what could become a catalyst for its next chapter. 

Read the full PBS KVIE article here.  

Rural healthcare in America is at a pivotal moment. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the multibillion-dollar Rural Health Transformation Program — one of the most significant federal investments in rural care delivery in decades. In a new Route Fifty op-ed, Principal Shawn Daugherty argues that its success depends on something often overlooked: reliable, affordable high-speed broadband.

Connectivity is now fundamental to care delivery. Without it, rural patients and providers cannot access electronic health records, participate in telehealth, or use remote monitoring tools, limiting the very innovations the program is designed to advance.

Shawn underscores that broadband access and digital literacy are essential determinants of health, and that investments in digital infrastructure must be integrated with rural healthcare strategy from the start. She points to proven models, including statewide digital equity plans and community-based digital navigator programs, that demonstrate how coordinated approaches can expand access and improve outcomes.

Read Shawn’s full op-ed here.