The solar industry in North Carolina has grown exponentially since the state adopted its bold renewable energy policy in 2007. The combination of a 35-percent state tax credit on renewables, including solar, wind, hydroelectric and biomass, and a 30-percent federal tax credit contributed to the crea … Read more

Food is in the news, and CED professionals should look below the surface images and arguments to a fundamental question raised about local capacity issues important to the NC farm and food industry. In honor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Food for All all-university 2015-2017 aca … Read more

Museums can serve as community anchors, catalysts for revitalization, and vehicles for cultural preservation. One of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ goals has been to extend its reach beyond Raleigh, with special consideration for historically underrepresented communities.  There is a … Read more

In the 2013 State Budget Act, the State of North Carolina voted to defund North Carolina’s regional economic development partnership and to dissolve the four “rural” public partnerships, including the NC Eastern Region, Advantage West, the Southeast Regional Economic Development Partnership, and the … Read more

This post is part of a series (Part I here and Part II here) on the Town of Hillsborough’s implementation of special assessment project financing. Part II mentioned the lengthy process to coordinate the thoughtful deliberation of the town’s policy. So far the series has differentiated the special as … Read more

How can we build on our existing assets to revitalize our downtown? How can we attract new residents and entrepreneurs into distressed areas? How can we encourage the kind of culture and vitality that keeps young professionals in our downtown? Many North Carolina towns are asking themselves these qu … Read more

Much of the year, the focus on water finance seems to be oriented to how much needs to be spent on water and wastewater systems. The numbers are daunting and the national and local media are rife with reports of what it is going to take to improve our water and wastewater systems. One of my colleagu … 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

Ben Houck is a graduate of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of City and Regional Planning and a CCP intern working in Lenoir County. Career maps available here: Lenoir County Health Care Career Maps In North Carolina, employment growth in the health care sector has helped to buffer losses in manufactu … Read more