Local governments may find opportunities for economic development through energy programs and energy installations.  Some communities have even used energy installations to turn otherwise undesirable properties into economic opportunities. The town of Hull, Massachusetts is located on a peninsula in … Read more

  A historic, downtown building on Main Street has been vacant for the last 30 years. Once an iconic hotel for the Town, today the building is empty, other than a few occupied tenants filling retail space on the ground floor. The small Town has a tier 1 designation and is working hard to suppor … Read more

This time of year, I travel across North Carolina orienting newly elected city and county officials. I routinely ask why they ran for office and hear how they want to strengthen the economy or attract good jobs. New to a city council or board of commissioners, these elected officials are eager to ac … Read more

  Quick trivia question—what is the northernmost town on earth? If you answered Santa’s Village, sorry.  The man from the North Pole has had a busy week, but the actual answer is Longyearbyen in the Svalbard archipelago. The Svalbard archipelago lies about 400 miles north of the northern coast … Read more

The shovels are out and the hard hats are on. One of the newest development projects in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina broke ground this month. USAInvestCo is building Northern Riverfront Marina and Hotel next to the City’s new Convention Center.  It will include a 204-slip marina, a hotel, ret … Read more

This is the fifth in a series of posts to illustrate different ways that counties in NC organize to carry out economic development activities (links to parts I, II, III, and IV). Each post will profile a different county’s economic development entity, including its structure, funding, staffing and r … Read more

This is the fourth in a series of posts to illustrate different ways that counties in NC organize to carry out economic development activities (links to parts I, II, and III). Each post will profile a different county’s economic development entity, including its structure, funding, staffing and repo … Read more

In 1971 in South Korea, a public official presented a draft enforcement decree for the Pollution Prevention Law to the country’s cabinet.  The minister of the Economic Planning Board, also vice prime minister at the time, was not impressed, first calling the official an “idiot” and then further bera … 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

Jeff Hughes is a Director of the School of Government’s Environmental Finance Center and a School of Government Faculty Member What would you say to an economic development initiative that brings together a diverse set of partners; effectively advances local, state, and global environmental goals; r … Read more