When the Don Gibson Theatre reopened in 2009 in uptown Shelby, NC, it didn’t take long for locals and visitors to start filling the newly renovated, 400 seat auditorium. Named after the hometown country music hero, Don Gibson, the fully updated theatre emphasizes the city’s deep musical heritage and … 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

Rick Morse is a School of Government faculty member. The fiscal climate for local governments (rural communities in particular) is daunting. Local governments are in a state of fiscal crisis and the long term forecast is not encouraging. Many use the term the “new normal” to express the sentiment th … Read more

Rick Morse is a School of Government faculty member. While cross-sectoral and cross-jurisdictional partnerships are often key to successful community and economic development, the fact remains that there are many real obstacles to collaboration, including time, turf, and trust. People naturally resi … Read more

Rick Morse is a School of Government faculty member. Economic development is a classic example of a boundary-crossing problem. Local economies are impacted by the actions of multiple jurisdictions (e.g. neighboring municipalities, county government, etc.), as well as the actions of private and nonpr … Read more

Rick Morse is a School of Government faculty member. To effectively address today’s public problems there is an increasing need to work through partnerships across multiple boundaries (organizational, jurisdictional, sectoral).  “Collaborative governance” has come to be the term of art for this idea … Read more