How the Presence of Talent in Cities Could be Worth $124 Billion

rnrnUrban policy is generally understood to include such things as housing, neighborhood revitalization, and poverty…

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Carol Coletta

Sep 5, 2009

By Carol Coletta

September 5, 2009

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Urban policy is generally understood to include such things as housing, neighborhood revitalization, and poverty alleviation. While all of these are important to the success of cities, even in combination they don’t come close to equaling the importance of talent to the success of cities.

Talent-defined as the percentage of college graduates in a city’s population-explains almost 60 percent of a city’s success as measured by per capita income. To wit: If urban policy does not include the development, attraction, and retention of talent, it doesn’t have a prayer of making a real difference for cities. But this truth isn’t easily absorbed by urban leaders.

But if we could increase college attainment by just 1 percent in each of the top 51 metro areas-areas with 1 million or more residents-the nation will realize an additional $124 billion in personal income. We call that the “Talent Dividend.”

Break that number down locally and it becomes even more impressive. In Indianapolis, for instance, a 1 percentage point increase in college attainment would result in a $1.3 billion annual increase in personal income. According to the city’s leaders, that is roughly equal to the local payroll of the city’s largest employer, Eli Lilly.

If local leaders believed they could recruit a business that equaled the size of their city’s largest employer, what would they do? They would fire up the corporate jets, put together an aggressive package of tax incentives, stage lavish dinners, put the governor on call, and put the mayor out in front of the effort. That is essentially what is at stake with a relatively small increase in college attainment among a city’s population.

There are three ways to increase talent:

You can attract talent.
You can develop talent.
You can retain talent.

For many cities, attracting talent seems like a cheap shortcut to solving the problem. It doesn’t require the expensive, hard slog that developing talent requires. But if talent only moves from one place to another, that means no net gain of talent to the nation. Besides, it’s not a winning proposition for most cities. Only 16 of the top 50 metro areas gained 25-to-34-year-olds from 1990 to 2000, and they are the best-educated, most mobile part of the U.S. population. (Just to complete the math, that also means 34 metro areas actually lost 25-34 year-olds in that decade.)

There’s only one sustainable way to increase talent in most communities, and that is to develop it. It means we’re going to have to do the work all along the education spectrum to make it happen.

But the goal is by no means out of reach. We’ve found that in all 30 of the markets we’ve studied, if we could simply get 3 to 4 percent of those with some college to complete their degrees, we could achieve the Talent Dividend.

Jim Collins admonishes CEOs to “get the right people on the bus” if they want to build companies that last. Cities must do the same thing. But unlike companies, cities don’t have the luxury of hiring and firing their citizens. Instead, they have to work with what they have. And that means turning the city into a talent-producing machine.

Which city will step up to the challenge first? The one that does, wins.

Carol Coletta is the President and CEO of CEOs for Cities, and the host of the nationally-syndicated public radio show, Smart City.

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Photo credit: Canva – A young hero rises to the occasion.

Local, News

11-year-old Kentuckian rescues man drowning in apartment complex pool

The boy’s quick actions saved a life.

Erik Barnes

7/9/2026

An 11-year-old boy in Kentucky is being praised for rescuing a man from drowning in a pool at an apartment complex.

Avory Woolery spotted the man at the bottom of the pool. The man appeared distressed and that’s when Woolery dove into action.

“There was this man in the pool, like unconscious underwater, almost shaking, maybe, and my adrenaline kicked in,” Woolery told WKYT-TV. “I went underwater, I grabbed him up, his friend, I believe, put him on the floor and started doing CPR on him to try and save him the best he could, until somebody called 9-1-1.”

‘He’s a human being’

When asked why he took initiative, Woolery said that he dove in to get the man because no one else appeared to notice the drowning man’s plight.

“No one was doing anything, so I put on my goggles. I went underwater,” Avory said. “I grabbed him up and I just felt really bad because there was no way that I was going to let another man die today. He’s a human being. He should be treated as such.”

As Woolery noted, another person performed CPR on the man until paramedics arrived. The Lexington Fire Department said the man was taken to a local hospital and is still in serious condition. While still hospitalized, worse could’ve occurred if young Avory didn’t intervene.

Fatherly pride

Sean Woolery, Avory’s father, was proud of how his son was able to calmly and quickly react to the situation.

“I’m proud of him. Somebody, when I was walking up here, somebody said, ‘Thank you, you taught him how to swim,’” he said.

A life was saved thanks to young Avory being able to notice signs of drowning and staying calm under pressure during a dangerous situation.

How to spot a drowning victim

While many public pools and beaches have lifeguards, it’s still important to recognize the signs someone is drowning so you can get them the proper help. After all, that’s what Avory did.

But the signs of someone drowning don’t necessarily match the ones that are seen on television or film. Many drowning victims are unable to yell for help, loudly splash, or grab attention since water is gathering into their lungs.

The Red Cross offers some more accurate signs of someone drowning along with tips to help them. A distressed swimmer/drowning victim will look like they’re having trouble making forward progress in the water. They’ll likely appear vertical and unable to tread water. They may look like they’re struggling to keep their mouth and nose above water. They could also appear motionless and face down in the water.

What to do if you see someone drowning

Should you see these signs, yell at the person to see if they can respond. Alert the lifeguards (if present) and have someone call 911 immediately. If there is no lifeguard, it’s recommended to get the person out of the water the safest way possible without going in. This means offering flotation devices like life jackets or buoys for the drowning person to grab.

There’s a reason why it’s usually not recommended to swim to rescue a drowning person. It’s because if they are conscious, the drowning person could instinctually grab at you. They could accidentally pull you down underwater with them. While Avory did swim to save that man, the victim was unconscious. It was an extreme situation in which trained professionals weren’t present.

If swimming is the only option, it’s recommended to swim to the victim with a flotation device in hand for them to grab onto without touching them. This can allow you both to stay afloat with less struggle. That said, it is always best to wait for water safety professionals to act first if at all possible. The Red Cross has some other water safety tips to follow that could save lives and prevent common drowning incidents.

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Photo credit: Canva – Donkeys and other livestock could help prevent mass wildfires.

Environment, Science

A Spanish park has been free of wildfires for over a decade thanks to 18 donkeys

Gnawing our way to a wildfire solution.

Erik Barnes

7/9/2026

According to NASA, wildfires have doubled worldwide due to climate change. Throughout the globe, governments and environmentalists have been trying to find ways to curb the fires. One particular national park in Spain has found a solution that has been keeping them fire-free for over a decade: donkeys.

Since 2014, the Firefighting Donkey Battalion unit consisting of 18 donkeys has been preventing wildfires in Doñana National Park in Doñana, Spain. The mission these donkeys do is simple: eat the dry brush that usually sparks and fuels wildfires. The donkeys spend up to seven hours a day using their voracious appetites to graze and clear a 130 by 50 feet area of dried grass, scrub, and other vegetation.

Why donkeys?

While humans can do this type of clearing out of dry brush, using donkeys for this work is arguably more effective. While it is a slower process, it is consistent and thorough. Donkeys are able to quietly patrol in areas that are inaccessible to vehicles. In exchange for the feasting, the donkeys get about eight gallons of water and rest. No money or fuel needed.

The donkeys’ bodies are also pretty much built for this kind of environmental work, too. Their stomachs are built to eat the same rough and dry grass repeatedly without issues. These daily grazings slowly but surely remove potential origin sources for fires. As a bonus, the donkeys are naturally disposing of the dried vegetation whereas humans would have to find a different way to dispose of it.

Having donkeys or other livestock graze in such areas was once more common in agriculture prior to modern farming. Some argue that the machinization of farming and urbanization have reduced the number of grazing animals. This in turn allows more vegetation growth that become dry spots for more wildfires to occur.

The method expands

This method has been so successful that other areas of Spain have adopted it. In 2020, Tivissa launched the Burros Bomberos project with three donkeys to so much success they’ve expanded. They now have 40 donkeys grazing and clearing nearly 400 hectares of land.

The Andrea Association in Allariz uses a team of donkeys to clear and maintain nearly 1,000 hectares of a biosphere reserve. Using GPS to monitor the donkeys’ activity, the group of grazers travel 19 kilometers per day to feed. Similar initiatives have since started in Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia, too.

Other ways to combat wildfires

In the United States, California has been using goats in a similar function. The group Fire Grazers Inc. has been contacted throughout California to bring hundreds of goats to eat dried vegetation. Much like donkeys, goats are built to eat rough and dry brush. This includes certain plants such as star thistle that are painful for human hands to grab.

It’s important to note that donkeys or other animals that eat dry scrub are the primary solution to wildfires. The same folks behind these initiatives also advocate proper forest planning and land management. This includes reducing the amount of easily flammable species of plants and trees such as pine. It takes thought, care, work, and maybe a bunch of donkeys to make a difference.

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Photo credit: Canva – A study is showing giraffes could be using math.

Exploration, Science

Spanish zoo study suggests that giraffes can do basic math

These hoofed mammals can understand addition.

Erik Barnes

7/9/2026

The results of an experiment done in a Barcelona zoo suggest that giraffes are capable of doing basic mathematics.

A group of researchers from the University of Leipzig, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and the University of Barcelona published their study observing four giraffes at the Barcelona Zoo. The experiment involved the giraffes observing containers that had different amounts of carrot pieces inside.

How did this experiment work?

The researchers showed each giraffe the two yellow containers and the amount of carrots within each one. After a few seconds, they closed the containers, keeping the carrots out of sight. They then showed each giraffe a green container which had extra carrots inside. Researchers took the carrot pieces from the green container and placed them into one of the closed yellow containers. They then let each giraffe independently choose which of the two closed yellow containers they preferred, without them seeing the total number of carrot pieces within each box.

The results found the giraffes would choose the container that had the most carrot pieces around 68% of the time. This suggests to the scientists that the giraffes were mentally adding the carrots up in each container before making their choice. After all, there have been past studies suggesting that other hoofed mammals, such as horses, had similar capability of basic quantity tracking.

The researchers did the experiment again. Only this time they subtracted the amount of carrots in each container. The giraffes were mostly unsuccessful at finding the container with the most pieces. So while giraffes showed signs of knowing addition, they don’t quite process all forms of arithmetic.

Math = Survival

Scientists believe that this understanding of addition helped giraffes survive in the wild. They cite that acacia trees, a dietary staple for wild giraffes, can be spread far apart in Africa. Being able to figure out which area has the most trees and the most leaves can help them decide where to graze next.

Giraffes also live in flexible groups that often change in size. One grouping can mix in with another group and then branch off or away. This means that the giraffes often have to keep track of those currently within their group and surroundings to survive.

Can other animals do math?

Giraffes are just the latest animal species known to have some form of mathematical skill. Chimpanzees displayed similar abilities to count as giraffes in a similar experiment that involved them picking the bowl with the most chocolate pieces rather than carrots. Chickens and black bears also showed aptitude in quantity tracking, too.

Scientists theorize that most of the animals that can do this basic math through evolutionary survival. After all, the animal that can deduce where more food is tends to live longer.

One species that displays remarkable mathematical ability are Tunisian desert ants. An observation of their navigational skills of finding their way to food and back to their nest suggests they use the sun as a compass in combination with mentally keeping track of the number of steps they take in a three-dimensional space. In short, these desert ants possess basic geometric and trigonometry skills.

While you wouldn’t want wild animals to calculate your taxes, it’s interesting to see how rudimentary math is a language that goes beyond species.

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