In the Town of Carol-Blue, Donny, a local community developer, finds himself in a really tough position. Both the county and city budgets are constrained and the challenges the town face economically seem only to grow in size. After performing an analysis of senior housing demand, he realizes that t … Read more

This April, the North Carolina Department of the State Treasurer hosted a conference on “Sparking Sustainability and Innovation: Together, Let’s Build a Stronger Future”. The conference was designed to foster discussion around how innovation and sustainability are integral to creating and maintainin … Read more

As one of the fastest growing regions in the country, with population projections calling for as many as one million additional residents by 2040, cities in the Research Triangle face an increasing challenge to meet housing demand, specifically for those experiencing homelessness and earning very lo … Read more

Across the United States, malls are an endangered species. Once a marker of local economic success, the traditional, enclosed shopping mall are becoming abandoned, irrelevant, and forgotten structures. Many anchor tenants, like J.C. Penney, are relocating or closing down altogether. The high costs a … Read more

North Carolina recently received attention in Tom Ashbrook’s On Point segment discussing “innovation districts”. In this episode Bruce Katz, vice president at Brookings, references the Research Triangle Park’s Master Plan when describing this newly-coined approach to endogenous economic development. … Read more

A previous post by Tyler Mulligan explained how local governments can utilize land banks to address vacant, abandoned, and tax foreclosed properties in their community.  This post provides an example of a successful land bank in Genesee County, Michigan – home to the city of Flint – and discusses ke … 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

Jeff Hughes is Director of the UNC Environmental Finance Center and a School of Government faculty member. The corporation that owns the business at the end of Main Street has decided to close the business down rather than reinvest in needed new equipment. The corporation is willing to sell the busi … Read more

Suzanne Julian is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration. She is currently working with the STEP leadership team in Pamlico County as part of the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps program. Archbishop Helder Pessoa Camara of Brazil is purported to … Read more

Rick Morse is a School of Government faculty member. “Practical futurist” Michael Rogers recently gave a keynote speech at a Triangle J forum in Durham about how technological innovations are transforming society. It was an excellent and thought provoking speech. At the same time, I’ve also been rea … Read more