Access to affordable financing is a growing challenge for small businesses, particularly in low-income, rural, and underserved areas of the state. It is also true, however, that banks, credit unions, and intermediaries in these areas have capital to lend. How can we connect businesses in need of fin … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. This is the fourth post in a series that explores the critical question of what works in economic development? Previous posts have focused on business incubation and suburban revitalization.  For one analyst, the most obvious answer to the qu … Read more

The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company recently announced that they are building an East Coast brewery in the Town of Mills River just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. According to Sierra Nevada representatives, the company chose the Western North Carolina location out of 200 different sites and aft … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. This is a continuation of the blog post from December 6, 2011, which examined some of the elements of successful business incubation strategies. As discussed in the previous post, there are some common practices and characteristics that tend … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. This is the first in a series of blog posts focused on the topic of “What Works in Economic Development.”[1] Upcoming posts will discuss the latest information regarding what we know about the effectiveness of various economic development str … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. Public officials and economic developers want to know what is required for their communities to be attractive and competitive locations for new private investment.  A good starting point is to understand which factors businesses consider to b … Read more

Lindsay Moriarty is a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing dual masters’ degrees in Health Behavior and Health Education and City and Regional Planning.  She is currently working with the Lumber River Council of Government through the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps (CERC). Although r … Read more

Lindsay Moriarty is a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing dual masters’ degrees in Health Behavior and Health Education and City and Regional Planning.  She is currently working with the Lumber River Council of Government through the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps (CERC). In Economi … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. As a new year begins, economic developers and public officials in North Carolina must feel pretty good about the state’s prospects in 2011 for building on its recent success in attracting several major data center facilities.  In a few short … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. A widely cited statistic that is generally accepted at face value is that anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of new jobs are created by small and/or existing firms.  What is the basis for this information?  Is this a well-established fact or mere … Read more