Aaron Adams - Alpine Capital Solutions

09/04/2026

St. Joseph employers are now telling the Chamber that housing is one of their top three workforce problems, with the biggest shortage affecting people earning $50K–$100K. That’s not an investor forecasting demand—that’s employers telling us the housing market is limiting their ability to hire.

https://www.kq2.com/news/top-stories/2026/09/03/st-joseph-faces-growing-housing-shortage-as-residents-struggle-to-find-affordable-homes/

09/03/2026

CHARLOTTE’S NEW MEDICAL DISTRICT JUST GENERATED $1 BILLION IN PRIVATE INVESTMENT — IN ITS FIRST FULL YEAR.
The Pearl opened in Charlotte last year with Wake Forest University School of Medicine as its anchor.
Now we have the first real scorecard.
A new economic-impact study says The Pearl has already:
Driven $1 BILLION in private investment.
Supported 2,270 jobs.
Generated $224 million in economic activity.
Produced $9.8 million in combined tax revenue. �
WSOC TV
That is why I pay attention to economic clusters, not just individual job announcements.
A medical school attracts doctors.
Research attracts companies.
Companies hire scientists, engineers and support staff.
Those employers attract more investment.
And all of those people need somewhere to live.
Now, I’m not going to play press-release math and pretend all 2,270 jobs are brand-new permanent employees. The study says supported jobs, which is different.
But $1 billion in actual private investment in the first full year?
That’s real.

The Pearl opened in June 2025 with the first phase of a 15-year build-out.

09/03/2026

Indianapolis is Top 5 nationally for affordable homes in highly rated school zones
Source/date: Redfin — September 2, 2026
Exact ranking/data: Redfin analyzed home sales across 81 U.S. metros and defined highly rated school zones as those served by public high schools scoring 8–10 on GreatSchools. In Indianapolis, buying a typical home in one of those zones would consume about 34% of the median household’s income, putting Indy in Redfin’s five most affordable metros nationally for access to highly rated schools. Nationally, the typical home in a highly rated school zone costs $580,000 — 35% more than the typical U.S. home

Homes in highly rated school zones cost $150,000 more than the typical U.S. home, putting them out of reach for many median-income households.

09/01/2026

President Trump, at the start of his second term, moved to reduce the size of the federal work force, a push that resulted in the I.R.S. losing roughly 30 percent of its staff dedicated to audits.

That stark reduction in staffing levels had been expected to curb the federal government’s ability to conduct the time-intensive investigations sometimes needed to collect the taxes that people and companies owe. The report, which includes data running through Sept. 30, 2025, the end of the fiscal year, is among the first official assessments of that effect.

The I.R.S. lost roughly a quarter of its employees since President Trump took office, hampering the agency’s ability to conduct audits.

08/31/2026

St. Joseph’s regional economy just got another $130 million proof point: Elanco’s expansion is complete, production capacity has quadrupled and the company expects to beat its original hiring commitment.

Elanco Animal Health Inc., in Elwood, Kan., celebrated the completion of its $130 million expansion of its manufacturing facility on Wednesday. The expansion quadruples production capacity and will be a major part of developing and producing the next generation of animal health treatments. Elanco

08/31/2026

Charlotte #4 and Winston-Salem #7 nationally for new construction

Source/date: Realtor.com Economic Research — August 31, 2026

Exact ranking/data: Realtor.com analyzed the 100 largest U.S. metros using new-build availability, price competitiveness, climate-risk differences and buyer demand. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia ranked #4 nationally and Winston-Salem #7. Charlotte has 29.5% of listings in new construction, with new homes carrying only a 4.7% premium over existing homes. Winston-Salem’s new-build share is even higher at 33%, while its new-construction listings receive 15.9% more page views than the national average. Greensboro-High Point also earned an honorable mention with 28.6% new-construction share and buyer traffic 12.8% above the national average.

https://www.realtor.com/research/top-new-construction-metros-2026/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Search homes for sale, new construction homes, apartments, and houses for rent. See property values. Shop mortgages.

08/30/2026

Rolls-Royce COMPLETES $1 billion Indianapolis investment

Source/date: Rolls-Royce — August 27, 2026

Exact data point: Rolls-Royce formally completed a $1 billion, decade-long modernization of its Indiana manufacturing, assembly and testing operations—the largest U.S. investment in company history. The Indianapolis campus now builds more Rolls-Royce defense products than any other location in the world, employs approximately 3,500 people, and supports thousands more jobs through Indiana suppliers

Rolls-Royce Completes $1 Billion Investment in Indiana, Cementing Indianapolis as One of the Most Advanced Engine Manufacturing and Test Campuses in the World

08/30/2026

Kansas City ranks #9 in America for Gen Z; Indianapolis #22

Source/date: CommercialCafe / Yardi — August 25, 2026

Exact ranking/data: CommercialCafe evaluated every U.S. city above 400,000 population across nine measures covering young-adult employment, affordability, graduate-friendly jobs, education, parks and lifestyle. Kansas City ranked #9 nationally and had the fewest young adults out of work of any city studied. KC’s cost of living runs roughly 11% below the U.S. average, and 30.9% of local jobs are accessible to recent graduates. Indianapolis ranked #22 nationally, with living costs roughly 10% below average and the Midwest’s second-lowest internet costs.

As more Gen Zers move from classrooms to careers, which U.S. cities offer the affordability, entry-level jobs and lifestyle they're looking for?

08/29/2026

Charlotte ranks #4 among America’s biggest BOOMTOWNS
Source/date: LendingTree — updated August 24, 2026
Exact ranking/data: LendingTree ranked the 50 largest U.S. metros using population and housing growth, migration, workforce and earnings, GDP and business formation. Charlotte ranked #4 nationally, behind only Austin, Raleigh and Seattle. Charlotte posted 2.8% population growth, 2.4% housing-unit growth, 4.0% workforce growth, 6.2% median-earnings growth and 3.6% GDP growth. It also ranked #6 nationally in both People & Housing and Work & Earnings.

We ranked the country’s largest metros using three categories: people and housing, work and earnings, and business and economy.

08/28/2026

Triad schools rank #1 and #2 in North Carolina — and both are Top 50 nationally

Source/date: Triad Business Journal — August 26, 2026, local analysis of the latest U.S. News rankings

Exact ranking/data: The Early College at Guilford ranks #1 in North Carolina and #26 nationally. The STEM Early College at N.C. A&T ranks #2 in North Carolina and #48 nationally. Guilford County’s Philip J. Weaver Education Center also ranks #289 nationally. U.S. News evaluated about 27,000 eligible public high schools using college readiness, curriculum breadth, assessments, underserved-student performance and graduation rates

Two Triad schools top of a new ranking of best high schools in the state, with two others in the top 12.