Despite the tepid economic recovery, many communities and regions in the U.S. are having some degree of success with their job creation efforts.  Inquiring minds probably would like to know what magic formula these places are using.  What exactly are they doing and how?  What factors account for the … Read more

Counties in North Carolina carry out economic development activities through a variety of different organizational structures. Some counties create a department within the unit of local government to implement economic development activities.  On the other hand, some counties delegate completely the … Read more

Vaughn Mamlin Upshaw is a Lecturer in Public Administration and Governance at the UNC School of Government. In a previous post, I offered seven strategies for creating a successful economic development advisory board. This post continues that discussion by expanding on the importance of clarifying e … Read more

Kendra Cotton is a project director with the Community-Campus Partnership. Understanding existing professional and social relationships and their structures is vital to maximizing communication, nurturing supportive relationships and building efficiencies among collaborators. Social Network Analysis … Read more

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. Over the past few months, I have been writing a series of blog posts that explore the important question of what works in economic development. Those posts review some of what we know about the effectiveness of various economic development st … Read more

For decades now, Cornelia and Jan Flora of Iowa State University have been at the leading edge of community development research. They have found that sustainable communities nurture and make investments in seven types of community capital. Thus community development can be viewed as the development … Read more

Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member. This post is part of a series that highlights approaches described in a School of Government web guide on asset-building tactics for individuals and communities on the economic margin. When a household falls victim to a predatory financial pro … Read more

Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member. This post is part of a series that highlights approaches described in a School of Government web guide on asset-building tactics for individuals and communities on the economic margin. As explained in an earlier post, financial education can p … Read more

Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member. This post is part of a series that highlights approaches described in a School of Government web guide on asset-building tactics for individuals and communities on the economic margin. A prior post explains the benefits that result when low-in … Read more

Will Lambe is the Director of the Community & Economic Development Program and the Community-Campus Partnership. A local economic development non-profit is considering an internship program to help support several high priority projects. The organization experimented with an internship program a … Read more