Monthly Archives: August 2022

A Q&A with La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Earlier this month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed the president and CEO of a major Michigan foundation to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.s executive committee. In the role, La June Montgomery Tabron who has been the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for more than 35 years, including the past eight as president CEO will help provide policy direction and guidance to the states economic development arm. Montgomery Tabron says its a natural fit based on the nonprofits core mission to promote economic development across the country. She recently spoke with MiBiz about the major philanthropic organizations role in workforce development, its financial outlook during a period of economic turbulence, and the business case for racial equity.

How will your experience at the Kellogg Foundation apply to this economic development committee?

I am so honored to have been appointed by Gov. Whitmer. I believe this role overlaps with my work at the Kellogg Foundation completely. Our work at the Kellogg Foundation has been about economic development. We look at it from a workforce perspective and an employment equity lens. We also approach our work through a health equity lens, and we also look at it from an early childhood perspective. But the bottom line for us is: Our work is deeply embedded with growing Michigans economy. While we have always participated in public-private partnerships, I think this role squarely allows us to deepen our work from the Kellogg Foundations perspective and partner in ways that can really accelerate the growth across the state.

The foundation is a major financial backer of the redevelopment of the former McCamly Plaza in downtown Battle Creek. What is the organizations approach to these types of projects and how theyre selected?

I would say that our point of entry is the community. When we think about how we can support our community in this case, the Battle Creek community requires collaborative approaches to economic development. We need an anchor hotel in the city. It is a key asset to the entire revitalization strategy, and so what we like to do is be that catalytic investment to support some of those projects that require these public-private partnerships where they can leverage dollars given by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. And we also consider ourselves a citizen in the community of Battle Creek, and as one of its corporate citizens we want to be a part of their master plan.

How has the recent economic turbulence affected the foundations financial outlook?

Our portfolio is volatile just like any portfolio. During the pandemic, while we saw the impact of capital dry up, our foundation actually issued social bonds in order to generate capital that we could then give away to nonprofit organizations who werent able to access the funds that were being made available at the federal level. Because of that, last year was one of our highest grantmaking years in the history of the foundation. We actually gave away well over $400 million across the nation. In Michigan alone, we gave out over $100 million this past year.

How has the foundations social equity mission and grantmaking shifted over the past couple of years?

One of the things we saw during the pandemic was the issue of workforce. Were still seeing disruptions in the workforce. One of our key areas of focus is creating a workforce pipeline and providing support to allow people to be on a career pathway, to access resources for training, and then also provide resources for entrepreneurship.

What we have found during this time is there will be a need for retooling. Our investments will be a part of that collaborative fiber in these communities, and were building what these communities need. Theres no more training for trainings sake. Were working in direct partnership with the businesses, the corporate sector, and were determining whats needed and beginning to build those pipelines that allow people direct access to livable wage jobs.

Can you talk about the Kellogg Foundations Business Case for Racial Equity?

Thats a publication we commissioned that talks about the win-win-win solution that we can create as it relates to economic growth by really making sure that everyone in the community has an opportunity to participate in our economy. What the business case says just for the state of Michigan, if we were to truly create equity, and equitable opportunities for all citizens is we could generate another $92 billion in economic output in our state. Those are resources were leaving on the table because were not providing those opportunities for everyone. It further says that if we could eliminate those inequalities across the entire United States, we would increase GDP by another $8 trillion by 2050.

So weve quantified it, weve shown that its a win-win-win solution, and that what were really asking for is these collaborations of business, public, private sector, coming together to really figure out how we create these opportunities and eliminate these disparities.

Whats the next frontier for the Kellogg Foundation and similarly sized, major nonprofits?

I cant stress how important I believe our work is around racial equity and racial healing. What we saw was a nation appalled by the brutality and the murder of a Black man being George Floyd. But more importantly, we saw people engaging and willing to engage now in conversations around race who had been on the sidelines in the past. What I see now is a true and sincere interest in people at least wanting to understand and to engage around these issues of racial equity and racial healing. At the end of the day, thats about building relationships and bringing people together across differences and allowing them to see their common humanity. Believe it or not, this work is more relevant and demanded now than it has ever been, and what were doing at the Kellogg Foundation is truly doubling down on how we can be helpful. The reason why we can be helpful is not only the resource that we have, but weve gone through and taken this journey. Our organization has been transformed after committing to becoming an anti-racist organization and taking the journey each of us to go through healing, and to do what were asking others to do.

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Nonprofit executive takes on state-appointed economic development role - MiBiz: West Michigan Business News

Toronto, Ontario TheNewswire - August 22, 2022 Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. (Noble or the Company) (TSXV:NOB,) (FRANKFURT:NB7), (OTC:NLPXF) Noble is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Exploration Agreement (Agreement) with the Constance Lake First Nation (CLFN)) in relation to exploration and potential development at both the Companys Nagagami and Boulder Projects near Hearst, Ontario.

The Agreement establishes a commitment by Noble to provide accommodation, to engage in ongoing consultation and establish a mutually beneficial cooperative and productive relationship with the CLFN located in the Projects area. The agreement also provides the First Nation with an opportunity to participate in the benefits of the Projects through priority access to business opportunities, employment and training, and through financial compensation.

Vance White, President and CEO of Noble, said: "we are fully committed to the responsible exploration and potential development of what we believe to be two very exciting opportunities in heretofore underexplored mineral lands. Our approach is to work with First Nations in order to create shared value through economic opportunities, while also being respectful and responsible stewards of the natural environment. Noble acknowledges Constance Lake First Nation in its commitment to protect and enhance the land and resource based economy within its Traditional Territory. We welcome the First Nation in a constructive and collaborative approach to the exploration and potential development of the Projects.

Chief Ramona Sutherland of the Constance Lake First Nation says, Constance Lake First Nation ensures that any development in our Territory is done right, only with respect for the lands and our people and only with our free, prior and informed consent. We are pleased that Noble has agreed to proceed in this respectful way.

The Projects

Nagagami Carbonatite Niobium and Rare Earths Project, Ontario (~14,000 ha)

An Early Exploration Permit has been received from the Province and helicopter supported drilling is expected to begin in September.

Past work in the Nagagami area has been spotty in the past. Part of this is due to the fact that the complex is not exposed on surface. Algoma Ore Properties performed the original airborne magnetic survey in the area that identified the complex. Limited drilling was aimed at the magnetic ring structure in search of iron deposits. Despite drilling in the wrong geology for niobium and rare earth metals, one of the Algoma drillholes returned 0.3% Nb205 from a grab sample of syenite taken at 230 feet downhole. Fluorite was noted in one drill hole as red-brown, waxy hydronephelite (an alteration form of nepheline) comprising 5-10% of the rock. The existence of fluorite is characteristic of carbonatite style mineralization.

Figure 1: Comparison of the Nagagami Complex (left) with the Niobec Mine in Quebec

The Boulder Project (~4,500 ha)

In 2019 Ontario Geological Survey analyzed a sample from the 140kg boulder and determined that the boulder contained: 71.8% copper; 3.5% lead, 1.09% zinc; 252 g/T of silver, 3.79 g/T of gold; 4.43 g/T of palladium; and 2.22 g/T of platinum and consisted primarily of the mineral cuprite

During the Fall of 2021 Noble launched an exploration program on the property to in an effort to identify the source of the boulder. Basal till samples collected from two fence lines of hand auger holes, located about 100 m and 1 km north of the boulder location, produced 35 gold grains. These gold grains defined a southeast-northwest trending dispersion train that indicates they were transported southeast by a glacial transport from a source area located to the northwest. The dispersion train appears to begin near a northeast trending magnetic anomaly to the northwest of the property. The gold grains are predominantly reshaped (24) but also include modified (7) and pristine (4), supporting evidence of local source. The cost of the staking, sampling and assaying to date has been.

Work will continue during the 2022 field season including a helicopter airborne survey, expected to be completed in September.

Figure 2: The Cousineau Boulder cut in half.

Historical exploration results disclosed in this news release are non-compliant with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101.

Michael Newbury PEng (ON), a qualified person as such term is defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the data disclosed in this news release, and has otherwise reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release on behalf of Noble.

About Noble Mineral Exploration Inc.

Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. is a Canadian-based junior exploration company which, in addition to its shareholdings in Canada Nickel Company Inc., Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd. and MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd., and its interest in the Holdsworth gold exploration property in the area of Wawa, Ontario, will continue to hold mineral rights to ~36,400 hectares, in the Timmins-Cochrane area of Northern Ontario, included in which Noble has acquired a 50% interest in 7 patents and 310 tenure identified mining claims totalling ~6,600ha in Carnegie, Kidd, Wark and Prosser Townships and an option on 4,800ha in Calder Twp. known as Project 81, as well as an additional ~11,000 hectares in the Timmins area Project 81 hosts diversified drill-ready gold, nickel-cobalt and base metal exploration targets at various stages of exploration. It will also hold its recently acquired ~14,600 hectares in the Nagagami Carbonatite Complex near Hearst, Ontario and ~14,400 hectares of mining claims in Central Newfoundland. In addition, it holds mineral rights to ~3,700 hectares in the Buckingham Graphite Property, ~518 hectares in the Laverlochere Nickel, Copper, PGNM property and ~482 hectares in the Cere-Villebon Nickel, Copper, PGM property, all of which are in the province of Quebec. More detailed information is available on the website at http://www.noblemineralexploration.com.

Nobles common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol NOB.

Cautionary Statement

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

The foregoing information may contain forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the Companys plans and expectations. These plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators. Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

H. Vance White, President

Phone: 416-214-2250

Fax: 416-367-1954

Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Investor Relations:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Noble Mineral Exploration Signs Exploration Agreement with the Constance Lake First Nation - Junior Mining Network

Located in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most natural resource rich nations holding massive untapped deposits of minerals including cobalt, copper, diamonds and gold amounting to approximately $24 trillion. It possesses extensive rainforest reserves and boasts one of the highest hydroelectric power capacities in Africa and globally.

Since its independence from Belgian colonial rule in 1960, DRC has encountered complex challenges in state-building due to a history of political instability and civil war. Until 1997, it remained under the kleptocratic, dictatorial regime of Mobutu Sese Seko supported by the West amidst Cold-War bipolarity.

With the advent of the 21st century, moving away from earlier trends of state-centric economic planning and ownership of private enterprises as well as appropriation of income by a corrupt political machinery, DRC has turned towards a market-oriented economic system undertaking structural reforms for macro-economic recovery with the involvement of the Bretton Woods Institutions. While economic improvements were witnessed in 2001-2014, DRCs economic condition has been in severe deterioration since 2016-2017. Ranking high in global poverty and human rights abuses, DRC continues to be one of the least developed countries in the world as indicated by its position of 175 out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index 2020. There is an evident causal relationship between the current humanitarian crisis and social unrest in DRC and the exploitation it endured under decades of colonial hegemony.

The DRCs strategic significance to Central Africa and world politics emanates from its potential as an economic powerhouse and its resource wealth amidst expanding global capitalism and resource demand which has resulted in a rising interest of multi-national corporations and neo-imperialist forces such as China. DRCs main source of export earnings i.e., its mining sector has consistently been controlled by foreign enterprises. Since 2006, Chinas stake in DRCs mining industry has been displaying ascendancy. The needs of Chinas rapidly growing economy has further diverted its attention to the Democratic Republic of Congo renowned for its premier quality supply of mineral resources.

While Sino-Congolese (DR) associations were established in the 1960s, formal relations have remained intact since 1972. The bilateral relationship exhibits a dualistic nature; firstly that of a strategic alliance favouring Chinas aim of maintaining a considerable presence in Africa and secondly, a deepening trade partnership allowing increasing private investment from China into the DRC. The latter trend can be understood in context of Chinas Zou chuqu (going out) policy; a component of Chinas broader economic reformation and modernization strategy instituted under Deng Xiaoping intended at encouraging surplus domestic capital to invest overseas in order to deepen access to foreign markets, natural resources and advanced technology, bringing about additional growth and stabilization. Chinas strategy towards DRC is shaped by a resource for infrastructure approach; wherein investment in infrastructure projects in resource-rich countries are undertaken in exchange for resource exploitation.

The Chinese strategy of investment, aid and development in DRC has been perceived as a profitable opportunity by the Congolese government fulfilling the urgent need of infrastructural development for socio-economic improvement. Moreover, contrary to the approach of Western powers and international financial institutions, Chinas developmental partnership is based on a policy of mutual economic benefit without any interference in domestic affairs of countries or political conditionalities. It does not impose demands of democracy, adequate human rights conditions, transparent and uncorrupt governance etc.; factors which have reached disastrous proportions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ipso facto, this has acted as a catalyst strengthening Sino-DRC relations.

China-DRC relations is essentially marked by an element of inequality due to Chinas status as a globally dominant power juxtaposed against DRCs status as a significantly weaker and lesser developed power. However, sturdy economic relations are expected to continue due to their mutually interdependent relationship and what China has termed a win-win arrangement. For China, the DRC is a secure source of strategic natural resources, market for its manufactured goods, and space for investment in infrastructure development. For the DRC, China is a source of finance and know-how for its infrastructural, and a source of manufactured goods.

An important landmark delineating the China-DRC economic relationship was the Sino Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines pact) in 2008. Through this agreement, Chinese partners (with a 68% stake) gained mining rights to cobalt and copper in exchange for Chinas agreement to spearhead infrastructural projects. The mutually beneficial agreement was envisaged to stimulate exports, economic growth, revenue and job opportunities in the Congo (DR) whilst bolstering Chinas critical mineral resource capacities through mining rights. According to the 2008 agreement, China would be the beneficiary of 10 million tonnes (mt) of copper and 600,000 mt of cobalt at an estimated value of US$50 billion over a 25-year period. It is noteworthy that the Sicomine agreement paved the way for the entry of Chinese investment and capital influx into DRCs political economy. Despite garnering substantial criticism, over the years, production of cobalt and broadly, DRCs macro-economic performance has risen lending weight to the notion of China as a valuable strategic partner for low-income countries. However, DRCs increased economic dependence on China entails a plausible threat of an asymmetrical relationship serving narrow interests given the high rates of corruption in the DRC. To illustrate further, while DRC accounted for 70% of the global cobalt production capacity as of 2020, Chinese investors occupied control over 70% of DRCs mining sector through RFI (Resources for Infrastructure) Deals expressive of Chinas growing monopoly in the cobalt market.

As elucidated above, DRC is integral to Chinese foreign policy which is best exemplified through Chinas One Belt One Road Initiative. It entails a China-led development approach based on investment and infrastructure building projects from Asia to Europe. While there have been substantial debates on whether the BRI is simply an economic venture or a strategic and coercive tool wielded by China to expand its political and geo-economic influence, increasing BRI partnerships have served to bolster its pace.

In January 2021, Kinshasa served as the location for inter-state negotiations between PRCs Foreign Minister and DRCs Minister of State and Foreign Affairs culminating in a Memorandum of Understanding on BRI. Bringing in DRC as the 45th BRI cooperation partner is one of the most recent developments defining Sino-Congolese relations. It is also indicative of a consistent and constantly deepening bilateral engagement on economic and other fronts between the two countries as we progress into the future. Welcoming DRC into BRI was precipitated by Chinas desire to forego DRCs interest free loans amounting to US$ 28 million in 2020 and Chinas decision to pledge US $17 million for development projects and aid. It must also be highlighted that in contrast to the total African debt on China of $140 billion, only 5% constitutes interest free loans. Essentially, by cancelling a miniscule amount of debt, China has beguiled DRC into its BRI ensuring that Chinese investors in the Congolese (DR) mining industry are incited to increase their stakes in the cobalt and copper industry; lucrative raw materials boosting Chinas rapidly growing manufacturing and energy capacities. The latest turn of events secures Chinas position as forerunner in the immediate future amidst the scramble for resources and expanding markets.

According to Chinese rhetoric, China is a development and trade partner aiding in economic advancement in the DRC. However, a critical lens towards Chinas approach in the DRC would highlight its neo-imperialist character. Chinas strategy towards nations with relatively lower bargaining potential has often been associated with the phenomenon of debt-trap diplomacy; this term is used to describe its predatory lending practices to countries making them vulnerable to Beijings demands which will further Chinas geostrategic interests in the long run. This has resounded an alarming concern in strategic communities in light of the fact that the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other Sub-Saharan African countries, accounts for a significant portion of Chinas lending in the continent according to World Bank International Debt Statistics.

Western anxieties are currently centered on Chinese investment in Africa as a possible trigger for another debt crisis in addition to the threat of Beijings expanding geopolitical influence. Conversely, the debt-trap narrative positioning China with loan shark ambitions in Africa has been met with scepticism as Chinese investment in strategic infrastructure projects is an indispensable option for African countries grappling with booming population growth, slow-paced economic development, lack of job creation and an under-developed manufacturing sector. Nevertheless, it must be pointed out that the focus on Chinese investments in African countries has been marked by a tendency of generalization perceiving the entire continent as a single entity ignoring the diverse socio-economic nature of African countries.

Accordingly, it is essential to conclude on the note that irrespective of the different viewpoints on Chinas engagements with the DRC, the outcomes of Sino-Congolese relations should ultimately be evaluated on the basis of holistic socio-economic enhancements and improvements spurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In that regard, Chinese development projects in DRC have yet to deliver.

[Image credit: Discott, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons]

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Shivangi Basu is a graduate of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, India and has pursued a baccalaureate degree in Political Science. She is currently an intern at the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) and the Politika and Consilium Research Institute, India (PCRI).

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China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Progressively Deepening Bilateral Partnership - The Geopolitics

GEORGETOWN, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Ever since Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) found vast deposits of oil off Guyana's coastline in 2015, government leaders have pledged that black gold would transform the fortunes of one of South America's poorest countries.

This year alone, the economy should grow 48%, the fastest rate on the planet, according to the World Bank.

But managed poorly, development experts and diplomats warn, those funds will stoke Guyana's overheated, race-based politics, while adding the nation to a long list of petrostates whose people have remained poor despite vast resource wealth.

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In May, Guyana's government announced it had tapped the sovereign wealth fund that holds the royalties paid by oil producers for the first time. By year-end, drawdowns will exceed $600 million, a figure that will soon balloon into the billions.

By 2027, Exxon and its partners, New York-based Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corp (0883.HK), aim to pump 1.2 million barrels per day from Guyana's seabed, making the country by far the world's largest producer per capita. read more

"Prepare for a massive influx of government revenue with little expertise on how to handle it," wrote analysts at the U.S. Agency for International Development in a report released earlier this year.

Interviews with more than 30 politicians, entrepreneurs, activists and citizens across the country showed both the buoyant aspirations and profound anxieties of a nation on the cusp of radical transformation.

The current government, supported largely by Guyanese of East Indian descent, says the oil boom will fund broad-based development with a focus on infrastructure and education for the nation's roughly 790,000 residents. read more

"Our commitment as a government is to ensure that opportunities are real across the country, irrespective of where one lives, irrespective of who someone might have voted for," Guyana's Finance Minister Ashni Singh said in an interview.

But many communities, particularly in areas associated with the Afro-Guyanese opposition, are skeptical. Some complain cash and contracts are already flowing to government supporters and allege the ruling party is installing loyalists to bodies meant to govern the nation's newfound riches allegations that Guyana's leaders deny.

"What they're seeking to do is use oil for political patronage," said Aubrey Norton, a federal lawmaker and the head of the opposition. "There's no vision."

Tucked between Venezuela and Suriname, statecraft has long been volatile in Guyana, due in part to competition between its main ethnic groups.

Descendants of African slaves compose about 30% of the population. Another 40% of Guyanese descend from indentured workers from India. Mixed race and Amerindian peoples largely make up the remainder.

President Irfaan Ali of the largely Indo-Guyanese People's Progressive Party (PPP) assumed power in 2020 following a months-long political standoff after a disputed election.

In the legislature, the PPP is now in a position to make pivotal decisions regarding the nation's future thanks to a razor-thin, two-seat advantage over the opposition, led by a mainly Afro-Guyanese grouping of parties known as A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). In recent months, the two sides have butted heads on every issue from how the government's ballooning accounts should be audited to key appointments.

But perhaps the most central dispute has been fought over how to govern the Natural Resources Fund, the sovereign wealth fund holding Guyana's oil royalties. read more

Among the opposition's qualms with the current legislation, which came into effect this year, is that they have no right to appoint representatives to its board. That's a major concern in a country with a history of endemic corruption, they say.

The government calls those concerns baseless.

Singh, the finance minister, told Reuters a proposal under the previous APNU government, which was in power from 2015 through 2020, would have centralized power in the hands of the ruling party to an even greater degree.

In any case, he argued, the credentials of the government's board nominees are unimpeachable.

The opposition counters by saying that is beside the point. Regardless of any individual's qualifications, they deserve a seat at the table.

"When everyone is from one side, it sends one message - and that is that the fund will be politicized," said Vincent Adams, a former environmental regulator whose nomination to the board by the opposition was rejected by the government.

Beyond the halls of the National Assembly, Afro-Guyanese communities have taken to the streets at times to call out the government for allegedly unfair distribution of resources.

In an interview, the opposition leader Norton argued the government's generous use of cash handouts, often administered by local bureaucrats, promotes corruption and political favoritism.

The government has consistently denied any graft and said handout programs are subject to a federal audit. Outwardly, the government has made a point of adopting inclusive rhetoric.

But the fight for resources is often subtler than a battle over bags of cash.

Under the previous government, many state-owned sugar farms - known locally as estates - were closed or downsized amid flagging productivity. That enraged the Indo-Guyanese community, whose members make up the vast majority of workers on those estates.

Since the government changed hands, the roles have begun to reverse, with many Afro-Guyanese complaining that sugar-growing communities are getting outsized investments, while their own neighborhoods are neglected.

The Uitvlugt Estate west of Georgetown lost hundreds of workers to other industries as the former government refused to adjust salaries, its manager Yudhisthira Mana said.

But in the last year, government investment has flooded back.

"What is happening with sugar now, I have never seen in my lifetime in terms of capital injection," said Mana, a 38-year veteran of the trade. He recounted with a smile a recent visit from President Ali, whose personal residence is nearby.

Fifty miles south, however, in the primarily Afro-Guyanese bauxite-mining town of Linden, much of the population is wary.

The government has made significant investments here, including an aggressive push to pave and resurface the isolated region's undermaintained roadways.

But many residents suspect their region is getting less than they are owed.

"We're in mourning because it seems Linden isn't benefiting like the rest of the country," said Charles Antigua, a retired miner.

Also fueling the sense of inequality is that most of the country's major entrepreneurs are Indo-Guyanese, giving their ranks a massive advantage in cashing in directly from the fast-growing oil sector.

One such businessman, Nazar Mohamed, a port developer, said in an interview that President Ali had asked him if he could add an Afro-Guyanese investor to a planned project near Georgetown, but that few had the funds.

Ali's office did not respond to a request for comment regarding the purported request.

"We did approach several persons," said Mohamed. "But they couldn't even find the money for the studies, much less building the project."

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Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Christian Plumb and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Thomson Reuters

Rio de Janeiro-based correspondent specializing in the oil and gas industry, as well as white-collar crime and corruption. Recent stories have shed light on criminal wrongdoing by some of the worlds largest commodity traders and revealed how organized crime groups have infiltrated Brazils largest fuel distributors. Previously posted in So Paulo and Santiago and has also reported extensively from Argentina and Bolivia. He was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College.

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Oil money is flooding into Guyana. Who will benefit? - Reuters

The pandemic brought about an economic shift in Spokane and the nation that has left those who track labor trends unable to predict the future.

Not since the Great Depression has the U.S. economic landscape presented a challenge for economists to immediately find ways to track labor changes, said Grant Forsyth, chief economist for Avista Corp.

The Great Depression really highlighted the need for better data measures for the economy so we could understand, from a policy point of view, what was happening and we could react to it, Forsyth said.

The pandemic created a new environment where workers all of the sudden are no longer bound by a central office. More are either working from home or using hybrid schedule that includes a little home and office.

If you look at hybrid versus centrally located workers, what are the pay differentials? Those are the kinds of things that we would like to know the answer to, but we dont have a good way of measuring and collecting that data on a regular basis, Forsyth said.

Human resource directors are forced, on the fly, to figure out pay for in-office employees who work in high-cost communities versus remote workers who may live states away in locales with a more affordable cost of living, he said.

Given the fact that we believe there are going to be some significant changes about where we live and we work we probably will have to think of new data measures going forward, he said. If not, maybe you make bigger policy mistakes because you dont have the right data about what is happening in the labor market.

Forsyth said hes seen some changes in questionnaires sent out by the U.S. Census. He said officials with the state of Washingtons Bureau of Labor Statistics must now rethink how the surveys gather information to get a clearer picture.

In that same vein, as researchers at U.S. statistical agencies are still grappling with how to measure this astonishing transformation, a host of academics and other experts has rushed to fill the data gap.

Theyve found that remote work has ebbed significantly since the height of pandemic shutdowns in 2020, when almost two-thirds of work was done remotely.

But it has since stabilized at an extraordinarily high level: Around a third of work was done remotely in the United States in 2021 and 2022, according to economists Jos Mara Barrero (Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico), Nicholas Bloom (Stanford University) and Steven Davis (University of Chicago).

Other data points suggest remote workers are switching to a hybrid schedule.

A new poll shared with the Washington Post by Gallup found 29% of remote-capable workers working from home full time in June down from 39% in February while the share working hybrid schedules increased a comparable amount.

While its difficult to say whether those numbers will continue, Davis said: Theres no doubt that its increased dramatically compared to 2019 and that it will remain much higher than prepandemic levels.

In particular, the remote-work wave has reshaped so-called knowledge industries such as finance and information, a category that includes everything from journalists to search-engine developers.

There, some three of every five workdays are now done from home, according to Barrero, Bloom and Davis.

Within each industry, certain classes of jobs are more likely to be done remotely. For example, managers in most industries work from home more often than the people who report to them.

The highest rates of remote work appear among technology, communications, professional services, and finance and insurance workers, according to data from more than 200,000 businesses using the payroll and benefits provider Gusto.

Those data also shows remote work growing across the board.

There is different exposure of industries to remote work, but the exposure to remote work writ large is universal, said Liz Wilke, Gustos principal economist. Every single industry experienced an increase.

Forsyth, the Avista economist, said the shift to remote workers has suddenly expanded the universe for Spokane companies to hire employees from anywhere in the country.

We now have a labor market where locating a headquarters of a business may not be required any more, he said. When I talk to firms they are now hiring people from all over the U.S. and they are not requiring that person to come to Spokane.

That raises a new series of questions that didnt apply as late as 2020.

When they have a person doing the same job in Spokane, but you hired someone to do the same job in New York, you have to think about pay differential, he said. In the old days, the expectation was if I hire you, you are going to be working in a central-work location and the pay will be based on that areas cost of living.

If an employee works for a tech company thats based in the Silicon Valley but moves to Nebraska, We are going to adjust your pay because we had to pay you more to live in the Silicon Valley, Forsyth said. It requires you to think and track where your remote employees are, and what is an appropriate wage for that area.

While the remote revolution has shifted the labor dynamic, not all jobs, such as manufacturing, can be done at home.

The remote-work landscape looks different for food-service or warehouse workers.

In those industries, workers are averaging one day of remote work out of every five, but that probably reflects those people in sales, office and management positions.

Available data limits how deeply researchers can dive into specific industries and geographies.

But they can estimate the geographic effects of remote work by assuming that industries and occupations present in each county have adopted remote work at the national rate.

The places with the highest remote-work rates in the country include the dense urban cores of Washington, D.C., Manhattan and San Francisco, along with much of Northern Virginias suburban heartland, including Arlington, Falls Church, Alexandria, and Loudoun and Fairfax counties.

Also in the top 10 are the federal science hub of Los Alamos County, New Mexico, and the wealthy lakeside enclave of Forsyth County, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta.

Many workers in urban areas are continuing to experience the benefit of not being tied to a certain ZIP code and moving to more affordable exurbs, whether to be closer to family and support structures or to get more for their money and experience a different standard of living on their same paycheck, said Yvette Cameron, an Oracle senior vice president who specializes in human-resource management software.

The latest population estimates by the Census Bureau reveal seismic disruptions as Americans spread into rural, exurban and suburban areas at rates we havent seen in at least a decade, according to Economic Innovation Groups August Benzow.

White people are leading the exodus from the countrys large, urban cores, but theyre not the only ones who are leaving.

Notably, two of the counties with the most remote-eligible jobs, Manhattan (New York County) and San Francisco, experienced the fastest population loss of any county with more than 10,000 residents from 2020 to 2021.

Each saw their prime working-age population shrink by almost 10%.

What were definitely seeing is a shift away from these top 10 cities and toward both medium-sized and smaller metro areas and actually a pretty big jump for rural employment, Gustos Wilke said.

Maps show a similar pattern across urban America, with the core hollowing out as growth soars in long-range telecommuter enclaves a couple of hours away.

Home prices and rents show similar patterns.

Population losses were biggest in large urban counties that before the pandemic had a high share of jobs that could be done remotely, high housing costs and lots of people commuting in, said Adam Ozimek, Economic Innovation Group chief economist and remote-work expert.

This is all very consistent with remote work being a significant driver of pandemic population changes, and the effect extends beyond San Francisco and New York City.

Forsyth said he believes Spokanes housing market boom of 2021 came from workers who learned they could work remotely and chose to live in a more affordable community.

The Federal Reserve did some research and found a lot of evidence that working from home greatly increase the demand for housing in the U.S., he said.

Workers all the sudden needed a home that was suitable to double as their office, he said.

So the demand for housing and surge in housing reflected that fundamental shift for working from home, he said.

Now geography means less to both those looking for work and employers seeking the best employees, he said.

Remote work is sort of separating the choice from the job, he said. That has the potential to change migration patterns.

The Washington Post and Seattle Times contributed to this report.

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Remote-work revolution exposes need for better data, tracking tools to evaluate workforce, pay and economy - The Spokesman Review