One of the cases I have students read in the leadership class I teach is the story of the Endurance expedition to Antarctica, led by famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. This story has received a tremendous amount of attention in the last several years, with several books and documentaries, a fou … Read more

The process of recruiting business and industry, generally, is not well understood by individuals who are not directly involved in that activity.  The more specific site selection process that companies use to locate a new facility is even more mysterious to external observers.  A recent article pub … Read more

Like other local governments, the Town of Hapless has adopted a minimum housing code pursuant to G.S. 160A-443 (for more on minimum housing codes, see Tyler Mulligan’s book here). In March of this year the town’s inspection department received numerous complaints about the condition of four rental h … Read more

A series of posts last year profiled case studies for “How Counties Organize to Carry Out Economic Development.” Links to the series can be found here (parts I, II, III, IV, and V). The fifth case profiled Union County, NC, where—at the time—local leaders were considering a new multi-jurisdictional … Read more

A smart rule ignored by all is as good as a dumb rule with a faithful flock. Neither gets the job done.

The United States is turning gray, and that isn’t a reference to the wet weather we have seen lately. The number of older adults aged 65 and older is expected to double by the year 2050 to an estimated 88.5 million seniors. North Carolina is no exception, especially given that our state has become a … Read more

The county’s new economic development director pulls out the last quarterly agenda as she prepares for her first economic development commission meeting. “How”, she wonders as she looks at the last agenda, “could the commission members possibly digest new unemployment data, discuss options for a new … Read more

You are meeting with members of your economic development board and trying to make decisions about infrastructure investment to promote growth. One member wants to focus the discussion on the need to construct a new shell building, while another member wants to talk about water and sewer infrastruct … Read more

Recent comments on a talk radio show by North Carolina’s governor has spurred debate regarding the role of higher education in economic development (and, by extension, the role of public funding of higher education). There have been many op-eds and other statements in reaction to those comments, inc … Read more

Interested in innovation, community development, and education? The US Environmental Protection Agency seems to receive a lot of attention these days for their regulatory role, but they also play an important role in research with numerous programs supporting investigation into new ways of protectin … Read more